NC NC - Ruben Wiggins, 50, Grimesland, 20 Nov 1988

[Gardener1850]

GRIMESLAND — The family of a Pitt County man missing for three decades believes he was fed piecemeal to hogs by the man who killed him.
Ruben Primrose Wiggins, 50, has been missing since November 1988. His story is just one of dozens of missing persons cases, unidentified bodies and unsolved murders in Eastern North Carolina.
Clues including a suspicious Sunday morning phone call, a bag of marijuana, an abandoned vehicle and a stolen chainsaw point to Ruben Wiggins' dismemberment.
According to his brother Norman Wiggins, Ruben Wiggins lived a quiet life in Grimesland, a small town of about 400 residents that's a 20-minute drive east of Greenville on N.C. 33.
Ruben Wiggins — who was ruggedly handsom with a reddish complexion and salt-and-pepper hair — never married or fathered children. He worked in Bridgeton for Georgia-Pacific Railroad, a job he held since he was 20 years old. Norman Wiggins said his brother's defining virtue was his generous spirit. And Ruben Wiggins was down to earth: He drove a 10-year-old Oldsmobile. A lovable rogue and black sheep of the Wiggins family; Ruben Wiggins smoked weed and sold a little on the side.
All that changed on Nov. 20, 1988, when Ruben Wiggins received a surprise 10:30 a.m. phone call.

Read more: http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/News/2018/03/25/No-traces-of-missing-man-everfound.html

 

[Gardener1850]

Norman Wiggins said detectives told him the caller couldn't be ascertained because there were too many small phone companies involved.

“Back then I think we had Carolina Phone,” Norman Wiggins said. “But I can't be sure. We were told the call went through New Bern and other places and couldn't be tracked down.”

Ruben Wiggins acted fearful and refused to say who the call was from. He had $500 cash when he left his home in a 1978 light blue Oldsmobile, according to archived news reports.

“He sold marijuana,” Norman Wiggins said. “He left that day with a bag to sell. I believe he was robbed for it. He left out of the yard in that Oldsmobile of his and we never saw him again.”
A couple of weeks later, on Dec. 1, 1988, Ruben Wiggins' Oldsmobile was found abandoned in a wooded area off Maple Cypress Road in western Craven County. Ruben Wiggins was nowhere to be found.
Ruben Wiggins often cut down trees for cash. He had three chainsaws in his trunk the day he disappeared.
“What used to puzzle me is that he left with three chainsaws, but when his car was found, one of them — a Stihl — was missing,” Norman Wiggins said. “If they wanted to steal the chainsaws, why only take one of them? I'll tell you, they used one to cut him up.”
Perhaps the saddest part of the twisted tale is that Norman Wiggins doesn't believe his brother's assailants were strangers.
“Oh, he knew them,” Norman Wiggins said. “Ruben was like an older brother to one of them. He helped raise him and everything. His nickname was 'Tootsy.'
“He was a friend of Ruben's; he was not a friend of mine or the family.”
Authorities confirmed “Tootsy” was a suspect in the disappearance, but he died in a car wreck not long afterward. The newspaper is withholding the full identity of the suspect pending further legal developments.

http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/News/2018/03/25/No-traces-of-missing-man-everfound.html

 

[OkieGranny]

NamUs: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/4924

 

[Coffee56]

Ruben Primrose Wiggins – The Charley Project

 

[Pennysmom1]

3752DMNC - Ruben Primrose Wiggins

Ruben Primrose Wiggins – The Charley Project

• 
• 

Wiggins, circa 1988

• Missing Since 11/20/1988
• Missing From Pitt County, North Carolina
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 09/25/1938 (85)
• Age 50 years old
• Height and Weight 5'10, 180 pounds
• 
  
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A gray shirt, tan work pants, black boots and a gold watch with the initials "GP" on the face.
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• Associated Vehicle(s) Light blue 1978 Oldsmobile (accounted for)
• 
  
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Gray hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance​

Wiggins was last seen in Pitt County, North Carolina on November 20, 1988. At 10:30 a.m., he received a telephone call, and afterwards he acted fearful and refused to say who the call was from. A short time later, he left his house with $500 in cash and never returned.

He has never been heard from again. A month after his disappearance, his light blue 1978 Oldsmobile was found abandoned in a wooded area off Maple Cypress Road in Craven County, North Carolina. Wiggins often cut down trees for money, and he had three chainsaws in the trunk of his car at the time of his disappearance. When his vehicle was located, one of the chainsaws was missing.

According to his brother, Wiggins lived quietly and frugally. He never married or had any children, and worked for the Georgia-Pacific Railroad for most of his adult life. His brother stated he also smoked marijuana and sometimes sold it.

His brother believes he was murdered and possibly cut up with the missing chainsaw and fed to pigs. He believes he who the assailants were; he thinks they were people whom Wiggins had known well and trusted. One of the suspects in his disappearance was killed in a car wreck shortly after Wiggins disappeared. The person's identity has never been released.

Foul play is suspected in Wiggins's disappearance, but little evidence is available in his case. He was declared legally dead in 2007.

Investigating Agency​

• Warren Police Department 330-394-2521

Source Information​

• WNCT 9
• The Doe Network
• NamUs
• The Reflector

Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 26, 2018; clothing/jewelry description added, details of disappearance updated.

 

[Pennysmom1]

Ruben Primrose Wiggins (1938-1988) - Find a Grave...

Born on 25 Sep 1938. Died on 20 Nov 1988. Buried in North Carolina, USA.

www.findagrave.com