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

[Stella]

Bump.

 

[Dysthymia]

I have been fascinated by this missing person case since I read about her in one of Mr. Bellamy's books about Cleveland. So I've been lurking here for a long time in the hopes that someone will be able to post the truth about what happened to Ruth Baumgardner on that May day in 1937. I wish that I had something to contribute but I know only what I've read in the Bellamy book and what is printed here.

I've always suspected that she may have been pregnant and either ran away with her lover to get married or traveled with someone that night to obtain an abortion which were illegal and dangerous in those days. She seemed to be one of those girls who had everything but that couldn't have been true, or she wouldn't have run away forever. Then again, she may have been killed by someone or died during an abortion. It is so frustrating to not know. I don't quite know why Ruth Baumgardner fascinates me so but she does and I remember her story ever so often and come here to read and see if any of the brilliant people who post information that they've uncovered will finally solve this very old mystery.

I didn't want anyone to let the thread die out and be forgotten.

 

[Marilynilpa]

I have quite a fascination with this case, as you can probably tell from the amount of posts I have made to this thread. In fact, I think I'm the one who originally posted it here on Websleuths.

Ruth got along well with her family and had recently become engaged to a young man who lived in the Cleveland, Ohio area. She seemed to be doing well in school, although she had told her mother that she was worried about one of her classes, and that she was feeling very tired. Other than that, everything seemed to be okay with Ruth, except for the telephone calls she received from an unknown man with a "high" voice.

I believe that when Ruth snuck out of her sorority house, she was planning to meet someone. I think she walked to wherever the meeting was to take place, since she left her car behind. Either she wasn't going far, or the person she was meeting had a vehicle to take them wherever they were going. It is possible Ruth was pregnant, and your comments are accurate about abortions being very unsafe in those days. It is certainly feasible that Ruth went for an abortion, died during the procedure or shortly thereafter, and her body was disposed of.

There were alleged sightings of Ruth and a young man wearing a collegiate jacket, in Zanesville, Ohio, but I have never believed these sightings were actually Ruth.

Like you, I hope someday this mystery will be solved.

If you enjoy cases like this, two other favorites of mine are the disappearance of Alice Parsons from Long Island, New York, and the disappearance of Lola Celli in Columbus, Ohio. There are threads for both of these here on Websleuths.

 

[Stella]

I was doing some more checking on this case and ran across another forum, discussing Ruth's disappearance. In it, someone mentions that "I know alot went on at the Loss place", but didn't elaborate. I've checked everywhere I can think of and I can't find anything about a "Loss place". Does anyone know what this is/was and what connection it might have to Ruth's disappearance?

 

[The Green Hornet]

The rumor that seems to be consistent is that Ruth staged her disappearance because she was pregnant and unmarried.

Doesn't seem like such a big thing now a days, but back then it was almost the scarlett letter to be pregnant and unmarried.

I'd envision she's likely deceased by now agewise, and this rumor like any other is hardly fool-proof. However, it seems to be the most likely scenario I've heard yet.

 

[Marilynilpa]

The rumor that seems to be consistent is that Ruth staged her disappearance because she was pregnant and unmarried.

Doesn't seem like such a big thing now a days, but back then it was almost the scarlett letter to be pregnant and unmarried.

I'd envision she's likely deceased by now agewise, and this rumor like any other is hardly fool-proof. However, it seems to be the most likely scenario I've heard yet.

I've been researching this case since I posted this thread in 2005, and it is still puzzling to me. I've come to the conclusion that Ruth was pregnant, but I'm not so sure she staged her own disappearance. I am more inclined to think that she died either while undergoing an abortion or as a result of the abortion, and her body was disposed of in some manner. What's more, I am of the opinion that at some point, her family discovered what happened to her. My reason for thinking this is: the family hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to look for her, in addition to the intense police search. However, several months after Ruth's disappearance, her family asked the police and the detective agency to discontinue their search.

Ruth had recently become engaged, and I believe her fiance eventully told Ruth's family about the pregnancy and the abortion. That would explain why her family quit searching for her.

 

[JulieR]

Wow what a case, I was wondering if anyone ever looked at the parents wills? Looked if they left money to someone other then close family. It could be that the PI found Ruth alive and well living in another state, with child. She may have had a hush relationship with her parents over the years and they never told anyone about Ruth out of shame and embarrassment. I can't get over the parents telling the police to close the investigation, the only reason I can see them doing that is to make it go away. I also find it strange that after two days the parents pack up her items and take them home like they know she is now coming back. I wonder if Ruth's sister has any children still living that would have information?

 

[Stella]

Having the parents request that the police and private detectives stop looking for Ruth reminds me of the Mary Shotwell case. Mary's parents asked that any search for their daughter be stopped after a year or two. Makes you wonder........

 

[Marilynilpa]

I wonder if Ruth's sister has any children still living that would have information?

I have contacted Ruth's nieces/nephews and they are not willing to discuss this. That is certainly their business, but it's unusual in my experience. In most cases when I contact the family, they are more than willing to help out. But then, families are all different, so that may not mean anything.

 

[Stella]

Remembering Ruth, who disappeared this month of May, back in 1937. Sure wish we had some definite answers.

 

[Kat]

This young woman turned out not to be Ruth but I thought it was an interesting read:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...yEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8UsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2554,1994339

The Pittsburg Press 21 May 1937

Another from the same news source:

19 May 1937

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=2870,1267225&dq=ruth-baumgardner&hl=en

Not Ruth but her sister is mentioned.

 

[Marilynilpa]

There were women claiming to be Alice Parsons after she disappeared also.

I think about Ruth fairly often, but have hit a dead-end more or less with regards to researching her disappearance. No police files exist any more, and no viable suspects were ever located.:banghead:

I'll stick with my theory that she underwent an abortion and died as a result. Who knows where the poor woman's remains were disposed of.

 

[milopedes]

I have contacted Ruth's nieces/nephews and they are not willing to discuss this. That is certainly their business, but it's unusual in my experience. In most cases when I contact the family, they are more than willing to help out. But then, families are all different, so that may not mean anything.

What a shame! I guess for selfish reasons I simply don't understand, but depending on what they know, it could be to protect the family name. That seems to make sense. But "protect" it from what?

If it was indeed an abortion gone wrong, or even the fact Ruth eloped, that may have been looked upon in a negative light then but certainly not these days. Or, at least not as much so as back then (is what I meant to write).

I'd be interested to know if someone from a local school disappeared around the same time. If a male student vanished, or dropped out of school mysteriously, you might connect the dots. Of course that would be based upon the assumption the truck driver actually saw Ruth with some guy.

 

[Marilynilpa]

I'd be interested to know if someone from a local school disappeared around the same time. If a male student vanished, or dropped out of school mysteriously, you might connect the dots. Of course that would be based upon the assumption the truck driver actually saw Ruth with some guy.

I thought the same thing, and have searched for the past couple of years, off and on, and have not found anything about the disappearance of a young man coinciding with Ruth's disappearance. Of course, the man may not have been a student, could have been living on his own and no one paid much attention if he left.

 

[mom-a-licious]

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.

 

[fact-n-detail-finder]

She was found by a Pinkerton Agent.
Finding her was a result of info from the Ohio State Highway Patrolman Conn murder trial in 1938.

 

[momtolil]

She was found by a Pinkerton Agent.
Finding her was a result of info from the Ohio State Highway Patrolman Conn murder trial in 1938.

The comments above were very vague.... Sorry, I may be off and not know whats going on. I used to follow this case, but I haven't read up on it in quite awhile.

Are you saying she has been found? Alive or deceased? What were the circumstances?
I often think of this case and wonder what became of her.
If it happened it 1938, how come it was never released?

Again I'm probably just lost. (It wouldn't be the first time. hehe)

 

[fact-n-detail-finder]

You would need to read what was said by the star witness of the trial as to what they did with her, but she was found and placed in a mental institution in PA. The detectives would not answer any more questions about it and said that the family asked that the authorities close the case and let it go. She was not needed as a witness so they abided by the family's wishes. Sounded like she was found after the 2nd trail (Massula's). Info comes from "On Eagle's Wings The Story Of My Life Earnest Paul Webb" (He was one of the main State Patrol Investigators in the Conn Murder.)

 

[momtolil]

You would need to read what was said by the star witness of the trial as to what they did with her, but she was found and placed in a mental institution in PA. The detectives would not answer any more questions about it and said that the family asked that the authorities close the case and let it go. She was not needed as a witness so they abided by the family's wishes. Sounded like she was found after the 2nd trail (Massula's). Info comes from "On Eagle's Wings The Story Of My Life Earnest Paul Webb" (He was one of the main State Patrol Investigators in the Conn Murder.)

Thanks for the info.
The family always seemed a little strange to me. Why would anyone stop looking for their missing child???

I wouldn't be surprised at all if this is the answer to her where abouts. It's terrible but not surprising that a family in those days would have felt embarrassment and shame over a family member being institutionalized. From what I read they seemed like the kind of family that would want to sweep something like that under the rug. JMO

This is so intriguing, I have so many questions now.... What did she witness? Did she spend her entire life in an institution? Where was she for the time in between when she went missing and possibly found? So many questions, that I guess were not meant to be answered.

I guess I'll just have to read up on the Conn Murder and Paul Webb.

I would love to hear what Marilynilpa has to say about this, as this poster seemed to know so much about this case.

 

[fact-n-detail-finder]

The gang that took her was involved in the white slave trade. She reportedly had been taken to Steubenville, Ohio from Delaware, then she was taken to Pittsburgh, Pa, then????