WI WI - Ruth Egnoski, 18, Delavan, 1966

[Richard]

Ruth Egnoski, 18, Missing since 1966 from Delavan, WI

Ruth Egnoski
Missing since 1966 from Delavan, Walworth County, Wisconsin
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

Age at Time of Disappearance: 18 years old
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair.

Circumstances of Disappearance

Ruth Egnoski disappeared in 1966. Private investigators hired by the family said she took a bus from Delavan to Chicago, but they lost her trail there.

Police found Egnoski's driver's license and Social Security card in the custodian's office of Wileman Elementary School in Delavan in 1973. Her father worked there as a custodian.

In 2002, police dug a 12-foot-wide pit behind 1014 Center St., Delavan, the house Egnoski lived in since it was built in 1962. Her family sold the home in 1971. Police found a crawl space under the family room of the house but no evidence connected to Egnoski's disappearance.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Delavan Police Department
309-244-8226

Source Information:
The Week Extra
The Doe Network: Case File 2645DFWI

LINK:

2645DFWI - Ruth Muriel Egnoski

<MOD NOTE: Several original links throughout the thread were broken and have been edited to include the current link (when available) and images as of November 1, 2022>

 

[Wanting2Help]

I can't find a NamUs profile for her. Any idea what color her eyes are?

 

[Wanting2Help]

I thought of this Jane Doe when I saw Ruth's thread/profile...

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115362&page=2

 

[Ambercat]

Does anyone know how tall Ruth Egnoski is?

 

[poppygirl]

I wish we knew more about Ruth...she's not in NAMUS, no information on height, weight...eye color. Might be helpful to know when she left or even if anyone knows or suspects why.
Though Delaware is a long way from Wisconsin...it sounds like she made it at least as far as Chicago. In March of 1967, Delaware police discovered the body of a pregnant young woman dumped by the side of the road. Could she have run off because she was pregnant? Police don't think she died of foul play but rather some sort of illness or potentially even an infection from an abortion attempt...

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP7097

View NamUs unclaimed person case UCP7097 for -- -- missing from Bear, Delaware. Date body found: Mar 18, 1967. NCMEC case number: 1184229.

namus.nij.ojp.gov

 

[alllads]

She's on Namus now The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[digitective]

I thought of this Jane Doe when I saw Ruth's thread/profile...

Identified! - CA - Huntington Beach, WhtFem 457UFCA, 25-30, in field, Mar'68 - Anita Louise Piteau

Me too! I think they look a lot alike. Huntington Beach Jane Doe is thought to be an Italian-American woman from New York but it's possible that a) Jane Doe made up that backstory to tell to bar patrons, so she wouldn't be found or b) the bar patron who identified her as having that backstory is confusing her with someone else (or possibly made it up).

Ruth has no identifiers in the system though, so it would be tough to rule her out.

 

[Archangel85]

Sounds like the father had something to do with it, maybe with some hard pressing he will talk

 

[Richard]

Name: Ruth Egnoski
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: 1966
Location Last Seen: Delavan, Walworth County, Wisconsin

Physical Description
Date of Birth: circa 1948
Age: 18 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Identifiers
Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance
Ruth Egnoski disappeared in 1966. Private investigators hired by the family said she took a bus from Delavan to Chicago, but they lost her trail there.

In 1973, police found Egnoski's driver's license and Social Security card in the custodian's office of Wileman Elementary School in Delavan. Her father worked there as a custodian.

In the mid-1980s, it is reported that two blue hard-sided suitcases were found by a school employee. The suitcases had been hidden above the suspended ceiling in the custodian's office.

In 2002, police dug a 12-foot-wide pit behind 1014 Center St., Delavan, the house Egnoski lived in since it was built in 1962. Her family sold the home in 1971. Police found a crawl space under the family room of the house but no evidence connected to Egnoski's disappearance.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Delavan Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 309-244-8226
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown

NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: Not listed

Information Source(s)
The Week Extra

Admin Notes
Added: 9/1/08; Last Updated: 1/3/16

LINK:

2645DFWI - Ruth Egnoski

 

[Odyssey]

I haven't had a chance to try to dig any deeper yet, but someone made a findagrave profile for Robert G. Egnoski. The date of death says "unknown" but there is burial info.

Not quite sure what that means. Perhaps he is alive and his name was also on his wife's grave?

Robert G Egnoski (1925-Unknown) - Find A Grave...

 

[Richard]

Ruth Muriel Egnoski

• 

Egnoski, circa 1966

• Missing Since 08/01/1964 (or 1966?)
• Missing From Delavan, Wisconsin
• ClassificationEndangered Missing
• SexFemale
• RaceWhite
• Age18 years old
• Height and Weight Unknown
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair.

Details of Disappearance
The date Egnoski was last seen is uncertain; it may have been anytime between August 1964 and sometime in 1966. Her disappearance was reported to police, but they didn't investigate it at that time. Egnoski's family hired private investigators who said she'd taken a bus to Chicago, Illinois, but there was no sign of her after that. She has never been heard from again.

In 1973, Egnoski's driver's license and Social Security card were found in the custodian's office of Wileman Elementary School in Delavan. Egnoski's father had been employed with the school as a custodian.

In 2002, police investigating Egnoski's case dug at the house in the 1000 block of Center Street where she'd lived in 1966. Her family sold the home in 1971. Investigators found a crawl space under the house, but it was empty. No evidence was located during the search.

Egnoski's case remains unsolved and the circumstances of her disappearance are unclear.
Investigating Agency

• Delavan Police Department 309-244-8226

Source Information

• The Doe Network
• The Week Extra
• The Wisconsin State Journal
• NamUs
• Ruth Muriel Egnoski – The Charley Project

 

[vw51212]

Please review and let me know your thoughts:

Skeletal remains found April 3 1976: 43 miles from Ruth Egnoski home town, in a cemetery as though someone who cared about her wanted her to be in a final resting place (Her Father?)
estimated post mortem interval: 1966-1971
Age 20-50 (likely less than 40) previously cross compared to a missing 16 year old so they clearly think she is younger

 

[Richard]

Here is a news clipping about a search related to Ruth Egnoski's 1966 disappearance. Not sure when the news report was made or the specific place where the search took place.

Click on the image to enlarge.

 

[Richard]

Name: Ruth Egnoski
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: 1966
Location Last Seen: Delavan, Walworth County, Wisconsin

Physical Description
Date of Birth: circa 1948
Age: 18 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Identifiers
Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance
Ruth Egnoski disappeared in 1966. Private investigators hired by the family said she took a bus from Delavan to Chicago, but they lost her trail there.

In 1973, police found Egnoski's driver's license and Social Security card in the custodian's office of Wileman Elementary School in Delavan. Her father worked there as a custodian.

In the mid-1980s, it is reported that two blue hard-sided suitcases were found by a school employee. The suitcases had been hidden above the suspended ceiling in the custodian's office.

In 2002, police dug a 12-foot-wide pit behind 1014 Center St., Delavan, the house Egnoski lived in since it was built in 1962. Her family sold the home in 1971. Police found a crawl space under the family room of the house but no evidence connected to Egnoski's disappearance.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: Delavan Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 309-244-8226
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Unknown

NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: Not listed

Information Source(s)
The Week Extra
2645DFWI - Ruth Egnoski

 

[Cimatico]

Enhanced image from source 2645DFWI - Ruth Egnoski

 

[Richard]

Ruth Marie Egnoski, 18
Missing since 1966

 

[CastlesBurning]

In 1973, police found Egnoski's driver's license and Social Security card in the custodian's office of Wileman Elementary School in Delavan. Her father worked there as a custodian.

I'm curious...what on earth possible reason could her father have provided for having her documents at work??

 

[Keiri]

Her father died in 2020.

what probable cause did they have to dig up the house? Finding a dad holding her documents can mean nothing. My dad has mine. At work is weird, but not enough for a warrant, no?

 

[branmuffin]

I don't believe for a minute that Ruth left and they followed her trail. Her ID being held by her father at his place of work could be explained. However, the two suitcases hidden in the ceiling of the building where he works suggests to me a narrative was created that Ruth packed her bags and left. Yet there are her bags hidden in the ceiling where her father worked. I don't know the ethnicity of the parents but the surnames sounds like it is from eastern Europe.

I used to work with a girl whose parents were immigrants from Malta and very religious. She wasn't allowed to do anything when she was a teenager. No proms, no dates, no going to movies. No make-up, nothing.

The first time she decided to break her parents rules she was 18 and she went to the movies with two girl friends. When she tried to get back into the house she opened the screen door and her father locked it then closed the front door. The glass in the screen door broke with her between the two doors and her screaming at her mom to let her in. She had cuts on her back and she got beaten when she came in the house. She was very philosophical about the event saying her parents were scared she would become a 'fallen women'.

So if that can happen to someone I know, I wouldn't be surprised that there are lots of women who grew up in immigrant households where they straddled two existences: the one that was thrust on them by their parents and the one that was being lived by their own contemporaries. And the reality is, the parents didn't need to be new immigrants, hyper religious people can treat their children like chattel to do with as they see fit.

 

[Keiri]

You may not be too far off in terms of family being screwed up. There’s some really wonky stuff going on in the family tree about the father’s (egnoski’s) real dad. That always worries me about family dysfunction, when it’s hidden so absolutely. Obviously if the child was just out of wedlock that’s one thing, but it almost seems too hidden. Even for that.