OH OH - Ruth Baumgardner, 21, Delaware, 4 May 1937

Marilynilpa said:

Ruth was referred to as the late Ruth E Baumgardner in the obituaries for both of her parents.

I have never attempted to locate a death certificate for her, so I don't know if one exists.

I don't believe Ruth was buried, as I don't think her body was ever located. JMO

I'll contact the cemetery to see if I can find out any info regarding Ruth.

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Thanks Marilyn. I just have a hard time believing that her parents would have had her buried in an anonymous grave. I look forward to hearing what you find!:rocker:

bump! :]

This case is so fascinating.


I wonder how likely it was that she was put in an institution. I really hope she wasn't though, all of the institutions back then were horrifically cruel. I remember reading an article about a a brilliant college student who probably had manic depression, her parents threw her in an asylum and they ran her through Insulin Comas, electroshock, and (I think) a lobotomy, she lived in a home for the rest of her life. She ended up exactly like Rosemary Kennedy. :[

This poor girl.. I really do hope she just one day ran away from it all, like the War Bride.

I went over to Ancestry.com and started a family tree for Ruth, so if you see one labeled "For Ruth" and assigned to Vegakitty1, that's me. This is also a shot in the dark, but what if another man swept her off her feet, told her he was going to marry her if she left right then, then dumped her and she was too ashamed to go home? Just a thought.

marie-chantal said:

I've always been a subscriber to the white slavery theory. The story about the slain officer makes sense to me. I just wonder if she got out alive. The abortion theory is also highly likely, but it's just so hard to get past the story about the murdered officer.

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I came across some information that was in a survey submitted to the Highway Patrol Headquarters after the Sereno trial. After failing to get a conviction in the Peter Sereno trial, the Highway Patrol sent patrolmen out to survey the public’s thoughts on the trial. They wanted to ascertain why the jury failed to convict Peter Sereno on the murder charge of Patrolman Conn.

The following was one paragraph that was tucked away in 1 of those 30 plus pages of that survey. (Dated Oct 1938)

“Would like to mention also Captain that Prosecutor Orum has late rumor on the whereabouts of the Baumgarder Girl. This may have been relayed to you by this time. But thought perhaps you should know about it for further disposition. It seems that Mrs. Leslie Dunlap of the vicinity of Moorefield just west of Cadiz has reported that a Young Lady living at Holloway and a former student at Ohio Wesleyan has information to the effect that several of her former school mates have been to Cleveland to visit her (the Baumgarder girl) at either a Hospital or a Sanatorium in that vicinity. The Prosecutor also reports that the Detective on the case has indicated several times that she may have been returned home. But will only come out and report officially that he was simply called off the case. This of course now may not have any bearing on the case, but thought it should be reported.”

It was submitted as part of Corporal Umpleby’s survey report.

Thank you, fact, for once again finding crucial information and sharing it with us!

Marilynilpa said:

I have so much information about Ruth, and I've had to go through my old postings to refresh my memory about what I've posted on this website.

There are several references to (1) the fact that Ruth appeared "nervous" in the days leading up to her disappearance and (2) that she seemed excited about something on the day of her disappearance.

If the sighting of Ruth in Zanesville, Ohio was legit, then I don't think she ran off with someone of the "wrong" color or ethnicity, since her companion was described as being white and of college age. I'll get his description from my files and post that within the next day or so.

I keep thinking that this case hinges on Ruth's mystery man on the phone. He called and left messages for Ruth the day of her disappearance. The man was not her fiance, and none of Ruth's sorority sisters remembered her talking about any other man in her life. Obviously she must have met this guy somewhere, but as far as I can tell this person was never identified.

I'll go through all of the research material I have and see if I can gather more info about this caller to post here, just to get some suggestions.

Thanks, guys, for all of the new input. It's fun to toss new ideas around.

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I know that it was menioned later that the truck driver described the man as Scandanavian looking, but that may just be because he was fair and blond. I'm into genealogy and love ancestry stories. I have a friend who tells a story about her grandparents who were born in Cleveland, later moved to another state (grandmother still alive, a few years younger than Ruth.) Her grandfather was of Irish-American and her grandmother was Slavic. Her grandfather's family was very much against the marriage and did not attend the 1940 weddng. Neither family was religious, but grandmother did convert to Catholicism and raise children as Catholics. Her grandparents never became close to her paternal greatgrandparents. I've met her grandmother and grandmother is fair. Man with Ruth could have been Polish or Slavic, and there was prejudice against those ethnic groups in those days.

You must look at this, this lady ran a house of disrepute in Steubenville at a similar time.

http://www.mackeysclockrepair.com/mabel_mackey.html

''no one knows the correct date or who took Mabel but she ended up in Steubenville Ohio and working in the prostitution profession. no one knows who got Mabel to start in prostitution but the family thinks that she was picked up and told they need people to work in the steel mills and after getting to Steubenville was forced in to prostitution''

mom-a-licious said:

Hi, if Ruth did leave to elope, her last name would have changed when she married, but she may have simply kept her first name Ruth. When she received a social security card later in life, it would have been under the name Ruth "_________" (whatever her married last name was at the time). Does anyone have Ruth's actual birthdate, not just year & month but the full date?

I once found information on the Social Security Death Index, about a very distant relative, with just her first name (and it was an extremely common first name), and I only knew her maiden name, not the married last name she had when she died. I did have her exact birthdate however, and this enabled me to narrow the field down amazingly despite just having the first name, so I was able to eventually find info on that distant relative I was looking for.

So...maybe if you looked on the SSDI, for for first name Ruth, with her exact birthdate, you of course might get several Ruth's with that same BD but one of them might be "the" Ruth. It's a long shot I know, but Ruth may be on the SSDI as she would have to be 95 now if she was still alive and may have died years ago under her eloped/married last name but with the same first name and her real birthdate on her social security card.

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I did that when doing my ancestry chart and found lots of current relatives.

Ruth's birthday was 2/22/15. There are 65 Ruth's listed on SSDI with that date of birth.

JeannieC said:

This is what I think is a transfer of property from Ora Hardwick to another person. I don't know if this is a buyer or a daughter. So far I haven't located a daughter so I think it is just a sale. Might not help us................

Cuyahoga County Recorder's Office

Row 1 AFN# 00738562 Doc Type: DEQC
Name: ORA HARDWICK
Assoc Name: SANDRA DIESTLER
Date Recorded: 12/18/1981
Legal Description: 024-04-043 ROCKPORT EDGECLIFF

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Sandra is Ora's daughter.

JeannieC said:

I just located and article that I know I haven't seen before. It might already be posted but I missed it if it was. Interesting article about Ruth hitchhiking, having a car accident and her companion being killed, ending up in Cal and having no memory prior to the accident...........

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...sNAAAAIBAJ&dq=coed missing oh&pg=3852,5309271

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I know this is quite a bit late after the original post, but I just found this case and have been reading up on it.

An accident in Phoenix, AZ involving a death, as related in the above link, would probably have earned an article in the local papers. It might lead to information such as the name of the man who died.

I don't know if this has been posted yet. It's the 1936 yearbook from Ohio Wesleyan. Ruth is on a few pages (58, 196, 197 and a few others). She looks like she's more of a blonde than a brunette. It gives a good insight into what her life was like at school. It looks like a rather fun place to be a student.

http://www.mocavo.com/Ohio-Wesleyan-University-1936-Delaware-Oh/280152/227

Has anyone else seen this?

http://paramendel.weebly.com/austin-manor.html

Make of it what you will; I'm quite skeptical of things like this but thought it might be of interest.

Stella said:

Has anyone else seen this?

http://paramendel.weebly.com/austin-manor.html

Make of it what you will; I'm quite skeptical of things like this but thought it might be of interest.

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I did see that. I am also very skeptical of these things, but I found myself looking at that yearbook that I posted above for a "Jeff". I couldn't find one. I did notice on the map drawing of the campus that appears throughout the yearbook that there's an arrow pointing toward a quarry. I would guess that LE would have most likely searched that quarry, but I've never seen it mentioned in any of the media from her disappearance.

The information on that paranormal site is really creepy and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

marie-chantal said:

I did see that. I am also very skeptical of these things, but I found myself looking at that yearbook that I posted above for a "Jeff". I couldn't find one. I did notice on the map drawing of the campus that appears throughout the yearbook that there's an arrow pointing toward a quarry. I would guess that LE would have most likely searched that quarry, but I've never seen it mentioned in any of the media from her disappearance.

The information on that paranormal site is really creepy and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

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Wow, these very old cases are fascinating, especially from the 30s and 40s. It's a big pity we'll probably never know what happened.

What a mystery- so much, yet so little, information.


I met a lady 20 years ago in a nursing home. She was in a room next to the room my relative stayed in. This woman banged her head all day long on the table, and made terrible noises. She had been transferred from an institution (now closed, thank god) that held the criminally insane. She ended up in a nursing home as she was too old and frail to be in the initial institution any longer. She would have been about 90 years old at the time. One day another older lady arrived to visit- she was in her late 60's. Her mother had died some years before, and her father not long after. While gathering paperwork after her fathers death, she discovered her mother was not her mother at all. After much detective work and interrogation of family members, a cousin finally confessed that her mother had "gone crazy", tried to kill her newborn, and been locked away. Father had taken the baby, and later remarried. Her real mother was the lady who banged her head all day- her daughter had finally found her. The daughter continued to investigate- she believes that her mother was probably suffering from post natal depression. That this lady, probably in her early 20's, could have been suffering from post natal depression and just locked away forever seems extraordinary- and that none of her family kept in touch with her daughter seems worse, but when I discussed it with my grandmother she just said "times were different".

A scenario that makes sense to me:
Ruth was planning to meet someone that night. She had been a bit nervous for a few weeks, but following attempted contact/contact with an unidentified male she was happy. His voices was reported to be a bit high. So a man who may have been trying to make his voice sound a bit different. If Ruth was nervous for a few weeks, then happy after this phone call, I am wondering if this was a relationship where she could not make contact, but had to wait for him to contact her- I am thinking a married man. If she hadnt heard from him for a few weeks she could well be nervous- he finally calls, she is happy. She organises to meet him late, taking her overnight bag but nothing else, because she was coming back. She is standing on the side of the road, waiting for a car, when she has the misfortune to be found by four criminals driving around. If she finally arrives home after going through goodness knows what, she could be in a state that would lead her parents to seek treatment, and to absolutely keep it quiet to preserve her reputation.

All speculation and my own opinion. I really hope Ruth went on to live a happy life under a different name.

marie-chantal said:

I did see that. I am also very skeptical of these things, but I found myself looking at that yearbook that I posted above for a "Jeff". I couldn't find one. I did notice on the map drawing of the campus that appears throughout the yearbook that there's an arrow pointing toward a quarry. I would guess that LE would have most likely searched that quarry, but I've never seen it mentioned in any of the media from her disappearance.

The information on that paranormal site is really creepy and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

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I just re-read the Bellamy book chapter on Ruth; according to him, the quarry was thoroughly searched. I'm guessing that is where the local lovers lane was?

I heard about Ruth from my grandma, but however she passed away in 1998. She said that she knew Ruth and lived by her when she was growing up. I remember my mom saying that my grandma lived in and off the projects near Lakewood and surrounding area. I'm not sure where that was, my mom never really talked about it, but mom was very young. My mom was born in 1939. She has since passed away in 2011. This has been bugging me for years since I learned about it. I know the family was "well to do" according to my grandma. I would try to contact a relative of Ruth and see where it goes. At least they would give some sight to this theory of what happened to Ruth. :scared:

"Nordic" descent
Nordic-Mediterranean descent

Could be she left the states and moved out of the country? I have to look into that.

But that theory is too far fetched. Since she said she was going to PA or did she? I found some things on the web about her, but nothing matches up and just theories.

Than there is my grandma who knew her or her family.

And I came across this:
Baumgartner (also Baumgärtner, Baumgardner, Bumgardner, Bumgartner or Bumgarner) is a surname of German origin, literally meaning “Tree Gardner”. It may refer to: Baumgartner surname.


OMG wait until you see this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Baumgardner

RUTH E OR O BAUMGARDNER

Ruth Elizabeth Baumgardner was a senior art major at Ohio Wesleyan University in 1937 and has been missing and unfound since May 4, 1937 in the Delaware area.

This case was closed in 1939 at the request of Baumgardner’s parents, but there have been so many different theories as to what happened to her, all of which have never been proven for certain. This Delaware case still remains a mystery today. The living relatives of Baumgardner have refused to talk to others who have investigated this case in the past.

Baumgardner was just 22 when she went missing. She was 5’5’ and 110 pounds. She had blonde hair, and blue/gray eyes. She was last seen wearing a brown suit, a sport hat, and brown suede ghillie shoes which tied at the ankle.

Baumgardner was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority group and lived alone in room 319 in Austin Hall. On the evening of her disappearance, Baumgardner practiced for a singing competition, and then studied in her dormitory for a test which was scheduled the following day. Her sorority sisters last saw her shortly after 11pm on May 4, 1937. She had her hair up in curlers and pins and was behaving normally at the time. Sometime before midnight she said goodbye to her friends, and has never been seen or heard from again.


Her sorority sisters had notified campus authorities about their friend’s disappearance at 10:30pm the following day, when they had realized she hadn’t attended any of her classes. Baumgardner’s new red Dodge was found parked undisturbed in its regular garage; they key was in the ignition.

It has also been found that she did not leave with an old handbag, but instead left with an overnight case. She had left her dormitory room key on the back corner of an Austin Hill staircase between the second and third floors.

Baumgardner’s room was in perfect order, which was uncharacteristic of her. Her watch, sorority pin, and some loose change were left behind in her room.

At first, it was believed that Baumgardner had suffered an amnesiac episode and wandered away from campus. The theory was bolstered by several reported sightings of her in the Delaware area in the days following her disappearance. None of these sightings were confirmed, however.

Authorities investigated the possibility that Baumgardner left of her own accord, possibly with a boyfriend, since several of the reported sightings placed her with a young man. However, Baumgardner was happily engaged to her boyfriend in Lakewood. There is also no evidence of foul play in her case, however, a local resident living near Ohio Wesleyan campus reported hearing screams between 2 and 3am on May 5.

Several inferences and different accounts of this case have been looked into and considered by investigators. The most popular and believed theory as to what happened to her is backed up by some sources, but the evidence is very vague and this theory hasn’t been fully proven.

The day Baumgardner went missing, she had received three calls from an unidentified male. To this day, this person has still remained unnamed. It is believed that Ruth was probably pregnant and thought she had found an abortionist and set up a time to meet him. This guy made it sound very safe and made himself appear very respectable, as if he were the middleman for a doctor.

It turns out that this man, along with others, were involved in “white slavery” and prostitution, while also involved in the first murder of an Ohio State patrol officer, George Conn. Naturally, when Ruth saw all these men in the car, she probably panicked and wanted out of the deal. However, she had been drugged with narcotics to keep quiet and was taken to a house in Steubenville. A testimony involving Charles Dryer, one of the men involved, has been published and took place on September 19, 1938 in the Harrison County Court room in Cadiz, Ohio. Dryer admitted to drugging Baumgardner and taking her to Steubenville, leaving her in a house, and then driving to Pittsburgh.

However, one of the headlines from a 1938 issue of The Portsmouth Times Newspaper reads “Highway Patrol Chief Labels Colored Man’s Story of Abduction ‘Screwy’”, saying that there wasn’t enough evidence to support Dryer’s testimony. More importantly though was what was found in a 1941 issue of this same newspaper, where “Two persons examining photographs of Miss Baumgardner reported seeing her in Steubenville within the last six months.” Even if all of this is true, Ruth’s body still hasn’t been found since she first disappeared.

Another theory is that Baumgardner was found by police and half insane from the treatment she underwent as a victim of forced prostitution. Another Ohio State patrolman that knew George Conn has said that Ruth was then returned to her family and put into a mental institution. However, her family asked law enforcement to tell the press that Ruth was never found. This might’ve been something that the family would’ve wanted to keep quiet and not want people to know. As for the 1941 articles on a sheriff re-opening the case, perhaps it was nothing more than self promotion to get some free publicity.

There has been contradicting news articles published denying that Ruth had ever been found and that she was still missing. Two women in Zanesville also reported seeing Ruth the day after she vanished walking with a young, white man.

Other theories include Baumgardner running away with someone her parents might’ve disapproved of or her being pregnant. With the little evidence that accompanies this case, it’s hard to say what happened for sure. Many have reported seeing Baumgardner, many have testified this so-called “abduction” of her, but the most important thing is that to this day, Ruth Baumgardner has never been located ever since 1937.


"Nordic" descent
Nordic-Mediterranean descent

Could be she left the states and moved out of the country? I have to look into that.

But that theory is too far fetched. Since she said she was going to PA or did she? I found some things on the web about her, but nothing matches up and just theories.

Than there is my grandma who knew her or her family.

And I came across this:
Baumgartner (also Baumgärtner, Baumgardner, Bumgardner, Bumgartner or Bumgarner) is a surname of German origin, literally meaning “Tree Gardner”. It may refer to: Baumgartner surname.

Ruth E. Baumgardner
Born: ~1916 in Ohio
4 years old in the 1920 U.S. Census
Lakewood Ward 4, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Single
White
Female
Relationship to Head: Daughter
Parents: Carl Baumgardner and Emma E. Baumgardner
Sibling: Ora F

This doesn't add up, if Ruth was 20-21 when she was in college, she isn't 4 yo old in 1920. And I believe her middle name isn't Elizabeth. So I'm thinking there is more than what the parents or relatives are saying that doesn't add up neither. Did anyone get a birth certificate on Ruth? Anyone can get a birth certificate on anyone. And I don't believe Ruth was dead or murdered when she left or mysterious left and who are these 4 men who supposedly is in prison or was? And the truck driver who supposedly picked Ruth and this man up. I think the truck driver is lying, did anyone track down this supposedly truck driver? If she is in Tennessee or PA, I doubt she would of used her real name or if she did, here is what I found below:

OMG wait until you see this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Baumgardner


Kristen Baumgardner's phone number, address and more on Whitepages. ... Lauren M Baumgardner, Eric W Baumgardner, Jennifer L Baumgardner; Lived ... Knows:Timothy J Baumgardner, Ruth A Baumgardner; Lived in:Canton OH~~~<<<<<<<

Ruth E. Baumgardner
Born: ~1900 in Ohio
20 years old in the 1920 U.S. Census
Lima Ward 3, Allen County, Ohio
Married
White
Female
Relationship to Head: Wife
Spouse: Maurice D. Baumgardner
Child: Richard I.

Ruth Baumgardner
Born: ~1909 in Ohio
11 years old in the 1920 U.S. Census
Springfield Ward 2, Clark County, Ohio
Single
White
Female
Relationship to Head: Daughter
Parents: Clarence Baumgardner and Florence Baumgardner
Siblings: Mildred and Charles

Ruth O. Baumgardner
Born: ~1899 in New York
21 years old in the 1920 U.S. Census
Cleveland Ward 5, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Married
White
Female
Relationship to Head: Wife
Spouse: Stanley L. Baumgardner <<<<<<<<
Child: Mary L.

http://us-census.mooseroots.com/d/b/Ruth-Baumgardner


here is more:
http://www.mocavo.com/search?start=0&limit=10&dataset[]=126212&nc[household_id]=101102900

http://www.mocavo.com/Ruth-O-Baumga...920-United-States-Census/15481609936224938232

There is no Ruth E. that was at the age of 20-21 except for which I said above and this:
http://www.hellonaples.com/whitepages/b/baumgardner.html
Ruth E Baumgardner - Age 98
Fort Myers, FL 33919
J R Baumgardner - Age 101
Fort Myers, FL 33901

and found this:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=111152513

http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/83234544/