Found Deceased OH - Thomas Sumerix, 15, & Ruth Guthrie, 12, Summit County, June 1963 *killer died*

[JeannieC]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...EEAAAAIBAJ&dq=ruth guthrie oh&pg=7363,5968132


This article tell about finding Ruth Guthrie's and Tommy Sumerix's remains a few days apart.

 

[JeannieC]

In this article they state that the remains of Thomas John Sumerix have been found and identified. They state that LE does not think there is a connection to the two girls who are also missing.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...lkMAAAAIBAJ&dq=thomas sumerix&pg=1989,1100765

I still believe they are connected but I have no evidence to prove anything. Just a belief.

 

[JeannieC]

I just found an article about Joseph Kuleszo that I either skipped over, misread, or missed one statement..........
This article is from the Reading Eagle in 1964 and it states,
"He disappeared about the same time as two other boys who were later found murdered."

I was not aware of another boy just 2 girls who disappeared about the same time in 1962.

Now I wonder about this! I haven't found another boy. I know that LE doesn't believe there is a connection with Tommy to Ruth and Marian.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AIBAJ&pg=5837,2153161&dq=joseph+kulesza&hl=en

 

[JeannieC]

I posted this previously with the wrong link to the article. Here is the correct link.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...FAAAAIBAJ&dq=marion brubaker oh&pg=3495,38523

A 49 year old man, William Lewis who made and peddled pot holders confessed to strangling Marion and leaving her body in the woods. He was a former mental patient. Lewis was arrested and later released.

 

[JeannieC]

I found an article which I can't link to that said Ruth's hands were tied and she was beaten and strangled. She was found with a rope around her neck.

Tommy was found with a "clothes" line around his neck. Part of it was missing, probably rotted away so they couldn't tell if it had a noose or not.

I wonder if both were tied with the same type of rope and if there could possible be any DNA.

 

[JeannieC]

bumping for Tommy, Ruth, and Marion

 

[JeannieC]

Sending prayers to Tommy's, Marion's and Ruth's families. Tommy, Ruth, Marion and Joseph, rest in peace. They are not forgotten

 

[JeannieC]

I wish LE would give out some information on Tommy and Ruth. Why not after all this time!

 

[OkieGranny]

From June 2013:

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/loca...wo-children-recalled-50-years-later-1.402883#

Tommy left his home on Shikellamy Drive about 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, to walk to Arlington Plaza to buy shoes... A Nobil clerk recalled seeing him shopping about 7:30 p.m. Tommy pulled out a $20 bill to buy gray suede shoes, tucked the change in his wallet and left the store with his purchase. He headed toward South Arlington for the return trek, but never made it home...

Pocketing $2, [Ruth] left her West Howe Road home about 2 p.m. Wednesday and walked a mile south to the fair. She spent the day twirling on amusement rides and playing carnival games, one of 30,000 people to enjoy the fair that day... She and two girlfriends left the fair at suppertime and took a shortcut through a grassy field near Overdale School.

A half-mile from home, Ruth said goodbye to the girls on Bierce Street near Vinewood Avenue, which she planned to take north to West Howe Road... The Guthrie family thought Ruth was tardy because she was having fun. When it grew late, though, something was wrong. Ruth’s father reported her missing at midnight.

Marion Brubaker has her own thread here:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ion-Brubaker-12-Coventry-Township-27-Aug-1962

 

[Nancy H]

Marion lived on off South Arlington St. The last place Tommy was seen alive was at Arlington Plaza on Arlington St.

I don't know if you are still active on this page but I just found it and I wanted to say "hi". I went to school with Tom Summerix and it was very upsetting when he disappeared, soon after that, Marion Brubaker disappeared. The locations you listed are correct but the area where Marion disappeared from and the plaza that Tom was seen in are nowhere near each other. They are both on the Arlington Rd area but its a really long road and the 2 aren't even close. I think of Tommy often and wonder how his parents ever coped with what happened, it was practically unheard of back in those days. Its something that we as children never forget happening to a classmate. Thanks for the info you have.

 

[Ohio Mysteries]

We just released a podcast on the story of Tommy Sumerix, Ruth Guthrie, and Joe Kulesza (who also disappeared at the same time, but had a very different ending.) If you'd like to give a listen, we're Ohio Mysteries on any podcast app, or you can go to ohiomysteries.com for direct links.

We handled Marion Brubaker in a different episode last fall.

A very tragic period in the Akron area, for sure!

- Paula

 

[Trino]

Sending prayers to Tommy's, Marion's and Ruth's families. Tommy, Ruth, Marion and Joseph, rest in peace. They are not forgotten

Guess Tommie has been forgotten. His murder became a cold case in 1985. No information online. Sad that a child can just be gone like this.

 

[Savannah R.]

Hello, I am new to this forum. Ruthie Guthrie's story is held very close to my heart. I have heard of Ruthie and this horrific tragady since I was a child. My mother lived by Ruthie, and we're childhood friends.

Does anyone know if any of her siblings are still amoung us? Unfortunately, my mother does not know or remember any of their names for they were older than Ruthie.

 

[Savannah R.]

Update: 2 of the 3 siblings are now passed.

 

[Betty P]

Photo of Thomas

Photo of Ruth

 

[Savannah R.]

I have submitted a request for consideration to
COLD CASE INVESTIGATIVE RESEARCH INSTITUTE for Ruthie and Tommy. Fingers crossed!!!!

 

[Betty P]

I have submitted a request for consideration to
COLD CASE INVESTIGATIVE RESEARCH INSTITUTE for Ruthie and Tommy. Fingers crossed!!!!

Welcome Savannah R.!

They're very tragic cases. Both almost seem as though they could have been killed by someone who drove along Arlington St. looking for kids to kidnap and kill. I wonder if it was a serial killer who moved on to another area. Edward Edwards was from the Akron area, but he was in jail at the time of these murders.

 

[Savannah R.]

Thank you for the welcome Betty P!

This was on our local news last week. I hope and pray that the local police dept will revisit more of these cold cases due to this man!

TALLMADGE, Ohio – After nearly five decades of dogged detective work, investigators have finally solved two disturbing murders from the 1970s.

Both young female victims were abducted, sexually assaulted and then stabbed more than a dozen times, before their bodies were dumped along the side of a road.

“We don’t give up and you never close a murder case,” said Tallmadge Police Chief Ron Williams. “We really represent the victims and in this case, we’re standing up to a bully who brutalized women in the 70s.”

Gustave Sapharas, 75, was arrested without incident at his apartment on Independence Circle Northwest Friday, following an eight-count indictment in Summit County.



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"I’m sure he saw it coming. He wasn’t terribly surprised when they came to arrest him," Williams said.

Sapharas is suspected in the murder of Karen Bentz on April 28, 1970. Williams said the 18-year-old from Akron was abducted near Akron City Hospital on East Market Street and then her body was dumped in a berm along Indian Hills Drive in Tallmadge.

The chief said she had been stabbed at least a dozen times and, according to the indictment, Bentz’ body was badly disfigured, suggesting she was tortured before she died.

Sapharas also suspected in the murder of Loretta Jean Davis, 20. She was abducted from Tallmadge and her body was found in Portage County along Congress Lake Road on Sept. 28, 1975.

Tallmadge police told FOX 8 they developed new evidence in 2013 that led them to Sapharas.

Williams said he can’t specifically discus the evidence, but credits, “New technology, a fresh set of eyes and great, great detective work.”

Sapharas was previously convicted of rape in the late 1970s and served time in prison.

More recently he was charged with a different cold case: the 1991 brutal murder of a young mother in Licking County. However, a jury found him not guilty despite his confirmed DNA being found on her body.

Sapharas is currently being held in the Summit County Jail. His indictment includes charges of murder, maiming or disfiguring, aggravated murder, kidnapping and attempted rape.

His arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday at 8 a.m., but it was continued.

 

[Richard]

I wonder if Joseph Kulesza was ever considered as a possible suspect in the murders of Tommy and Ruth. Here is a 17-year-old who mysteriously disappears about the same time as they are abducted/murdered, and doesn't reappear until 18 months later in Florida where he enlists in the Marine Corps. Where was he in the meanwhile? And what was his history before and after these murders?

Another question regarding these cases - could any of them be related to the double murder of Pat Brown (17) and Sheldon Miller (14) which occurred on 3 July 1964 in Northwest Detroit, Michigan?

 

[Betty P]

I wonder if Joseph Kulesza was ever considered as a possible suspect in the murders of Tommy and Ruth. Here is a 17-year-old who mysteriously disappears about the same time as they are abducted/murdered, and doesn't reappear until 18 months later in Florida where he enlists in the Marine Corps. Where was he in the meanwhile? And what was his history before and after these murders?

Another question regarding these cases - could any of them be related to the double murder of Pat Brown (17) and Sheldon Miller (14) which occurred on 3 July 1964 in Northwest Detroit, Michigan?

Interesting about Kulesza, hadn't read anything about him.

There were some other child killers who moved between Ohio and Michigan, including Ted Lamborgine

The Babysitter Killer

The murders of Pat Brown and Sheldon Miller seem a little different from these because they were killed in a public place and their bodies left there to be discovered. IDK.