Identified! MA - Provincetown, Race Point, 'Lady in the Dunes' WhtFem 27-49, UP11840, Jul'74 - Ruth Marie Terry

[chaddylex]

Good catch at

I'd say Patricia is already being looked at by MA LE.

Contact info in NamUs for Patricia is:

Case Owner
Massachusetts State Police
(508) 362-8113

Agency Case Number 2015-102-362

That phone # is for
Cape & Islands District Attorney's Office
3231 Main St., Barnstable, MA, 02630
(508) 362-8113
Cape & Islands District Attorney's Office

Barnstable County is where PTown is.

Great catch!

 

[carbuff]

You can't detect diabetes by a blood test. They can measure that your blood sugar is high, but they can't tell why the increased blood sugar happened or whether it was a regular thing. It might just be you had a syrup-soaked waffle for breakfast.

In advanced cases there are signs, like damage to the retina or the nerves and circulation in your feet, but mostly it doesn't leave any marks on your body. They might have been able to notice the needle marks, but if she was kidnapped, she probably didn't have the insulin with her and the marks could have healed.

 

[Feme98]

You can't detect diabetes by a blood test. They can measure that your blood sugar is high, but they can't tell why the increased blood sugar happened or whether it was a regular thing. It might just be you had a syrup-soaked waffle for breakfast.

In advanced cases there are signs, like damage to the retina or the nerves and circulation in your feet, but mostly it doesn't leave any marks on your body. They might have been able to notice the needle marks, but if she was kidnapped, she probably didn't have the insulin with her and the marks could have healed.

That’s a good possibility!

 

[Curious_in_NC]

Here's a couple of articles on diagnosis of diabetes post-mortem. These seem more oriented toward it as a possible cause of death.

Postmortem diagnosis of diabetes mellitus and its complications
Postmortem diagnosis of unsuspected diabetes mellitus - ScienceDirect

From the first article "Acute complications of diabetes mellitus as causes of death may be difficult to diagnose due to missing characteristic macroscopic and microscopic findings. Biochemical analyses, including vitreous glucose, blood (or alternative specimen) beta-hydroxybutyrate, and blood glycated hemoglobin determination, may complement postmortem investigations and provide useful information for determining the cause of death even in corpses with advanced decompositional changes."

So, in other words, fairly rigorous biochemical analyses might might help identify a person with diabetes or someone dying from its complications today. It seems doubtful that nearly 50 years ago these analyses would have been done, or even possible. Home blood glucose monitoring really didn't become common until the late 70s either, so scarring from fingerstick tests also wouldn't be likely. There weren't any hands found with the UID so that's a moot point anyhow.
MOO

 

[Doeologist]

Correction: It was her father-in-law who was a Coast Guard. His name was William Lefler. That was in 1945 (see the '45 Florida Census).
He appears to have been a landscaper in 1930.

I think it's more than interesting that LOTD was found with piles of pine needles where her hands should have been, and that BSL's father-in-law appears to have worked as a landscaper at one point.

Maybe it's just something to make her look like she was sunbathing from a distance and wasn't a dead person missing her hands. It's definitely a strange tableau for the staging.

But it's obviously an attempt to make it look like she settled down on the dunes willingly. Which would suggest that she was never there willingly. Not on the dunes and probably not even in the North East.

 

[MadMcGoo]

FWIW & Probably a little irrelevant to LoTD's ultimate identification, but I don't think the new season of American Horror Story will revolve around her case. I was hoping for some additional, and new, exposure to her murder though.

 

[MadMcGoo]

FWIW & Probably a little irrelevant to LoTD's ultimate identification, but I don't think the new season of American Horror Story will revolve around her case. I was hoping for some additional, and new, exposure to her murder though.

Have mercy. This should have said will NOT revolve around her case. I should learn to proofread a little better.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

Have mercy. This should have said will NOT revolve around her case. I should learn to proofread a little better.

No worries, I understood what you were trying to get across and I am not even a native English-speaker!

As for American Horror Story, IRL characters are often just minor characters, or used as McGuffins, or just appearing in subplots that goes nowhere, really, so you might be right about that. Apparently, this season's gonna consist of two shorter storylines instead of one long story.

Fun fact: Creator of AHS, Ryan Murphy, has a house in Provincetown.

 

[Bit of hope]

Have mercy. This should have said will NOT revolve around her case. I should learn to proofread a little better.

No problem...I think you put it right....at least I understood it loud and clear. "I don't think, etc."

 

[MadMcGoo]

No problem...I think you put it right....at least I understood it loud and clear. "I don't think, etc."

Hahaha I swear English is my first language and I read and write very well.

Thank you @Mrs. Badcrumble ! I guess we'll have to wait to see the episodes!

 

[Doeologist]

A lot of horror is set in Maine and New England. Here’s a page that talks about a phenomenon in Massachusetts of unsolved cold cases. The Boston Strangler Murders had at least half a dozen perpetrators but none were caught.

PARADISE DIARIES: The Lady of the Dunes

 

[Doeologist]

So how is MA when it comes to Doe IDs or with familial DNA testing anyway? I didn’t find any IDs in Massachusetts last year on NamUs.

 

[carbuff]

So how is MA when it comes to Doe IDs or with familial DNA testing anyway? I didn’t find any IDs in Massachusetts last year on NamUs.

Bad. Slow. Mostly uninterested. If there's a crime involved they're better, but UIDs and long term missing just aren't on the radar. I've lived here for like 25 years.

 

[MadMcGoo]

Bad. Slow. Mostly uninterested. If there's a crime involved they're better, but UIDs and long term missing just aren't on the radar. I've lived here for like 25 years.

Damn. I hope this changes.

 

[Harrietthespy27]

So how is MA when it comes to Doe IDs or with familial DNA testing anyway? I didn’t find any IDs in Massachusetts last year on NamUs.

MA has so many weird things happen Karina Holmer & man in the dunes were both dismembered as well. We have a HUGE number of unidentified remains for a state this small... all of New England combined has about 30 unidentified remains compared to MA’s 186.

 

[Harrietthespy27]

Bad. Slow. Mostly uninterested. If there's a crime involved they're better, but UIDs and long term missing just aren't on the radar. I've lived here for like 25 years.

Yes you’re totally right. I know mass state police investigate all homicides, suicides & unattended deaths. The Unidentified just sit collecting dust. They are actually pretty good with child abductions though. Mess with them and they will shut the state down. But I do have a passion for the unidentified. I would love doing that as a job

 

[Bit of hope]

MA has so many weird things happen Karina Holmer & man in the dunes were both dismembered as well. We have a HUGE number of unidentified remains for a state this small... all of New England combined has about 30 unidentified remains compared to MA’s 186.

This is weird and concerning.....is there any data base besides Namus where these UID's are listed?

 

[snowgoose]

This is weird and concerning.....is there any data base besides Namus where these UID's are listed?

Discrepancies like this are sometimes down to a policy difference: eg. maybe Massachusetts decided to enter every UID in NamUs while other states leave it up to each police department's decision.

Combined with the fact that MA has the biggest population and largest city in New England (and it's easier to be anonymous in a big city), I don't think it's too odd that they have more UIDs than the other states.

 

[Harrietthespy27]

This is weird and concerning.....is there any data base besides Namus where these UID's are listed?

Charley project & codis maybe?

 

[Harrietthespy27]

Charley project & codis maybe?

Discrepancies like this are sometimes down to a policy difference: eg. maybe Massachusetts decided to enter every UID in NamUs while other states leave it up to each police department's decision.

Combined with the fact that MA has the biggest population and largest city in New England (and it's easier to be anonymous in a big city), I don't think it's too odd that they have more UIDs than the other states.

All unattended deaths are investigated by mass state police now. I don’t know when that started but it’s been that way for a while. They picked up most of the cold cases now as well, maybe not all.