Identified! SC - Columbia, WhtFem 35-50, UP12594, schizophrenic, died in hospital, Feb'82 - Virginia Clyde Higgins Ray

[victoriarobinson642]

Rest in peace, Virginia.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"It's sad and we are very happy that she is on the way home," said Ray's sister Carrie Wingler.

Carrie Wingler says she is relieved that after four decades she now knows what happened to her sister, 38-year-old sister Virginia Ray, who disappeared from Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

"She was a very sweet girl, she always kept her hair neat, she had nice teeth... she loved her kids dearly," said Wingler.

Authorities say Virginia Ray was found on the streets of Richland County having a psychoses episode and was taken to the emergency room where she was treated.

After being treated, she was admitted to the women's ward of the state hospital at Bull Street and diagnosed with schizophrenia. Due to her condition, she was never able to give her name.

Before going missing, Wingler says her sister was in an abusive marriage and her children would try to protect her.

"They would pull him off of her, he beat her so much... he alienated her from her family," said Wingler.

Family members believe Ray ended up in Columbia after being abandoned by her former husband due to a domestic violence incident between the two.

Officials say Ray had a Grand Mal seizure while at the psychiatric hospital which led to her falling and dying.

Ray's body will be reunited with her family so that they can take her home.

Missing North Carolina woman identified by Richland County officials 40 years later

Tuesday afternoon the Richland County Coroners office gathered with FHD Forensics LLC and Genealogy For Justice to announce the identity of a missing North Car

wach.com

RIP Virginia

 

[DSCrime]

"It's sad and we are very happy that she is on the way home," said Ray's sister Carrie Wingler.

Carrie Wingler says she is relieved that after four decades she now knows what happened to her sister, 38-year-old sister Virginia Ray, who disappeared from Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

"She was a very sweet girl, she always kept her hair neat, she had nice teeth... she loved her kids dearly," said Wingler.

Authorities say Virginia Ray was found on the streets of Richland County having a psychoses episode and was taken to the emergency room where she was treated.

After being treated, she was admitted to the women's ward of the state hospital at Bull Street and diagnosed with schizophrenia. Due to her condition, she was never able to give her name.

Before going missing, Wingler says her sister was in an abusive marriage and her children would try to protect her.

Family members believe Ray ended up in Columbia after being abandoned by her former husband due to a domestic violence incident between the two.

Officials say Ray had a Grand Mal seizure while at the psychiatric hospital which led to her falling and dying.

Ray's body will be reunited with her family so that they can take her home.

Missing North Carolina woman identified by Richland County officials 40 years later

Tuesday afternoon the Richland County Coroners office gathered with FHD Forensics LLC and Genealogy For Justice to announce the identity of a missing North Car

wach.com

RIP Virginia

How terribly sad. I'm glad that Ray finally got her name back and her family has answers. RIP

 

[FamilyHistoryDetectives]

Thank you all for your compassionate concern for Mrs. Ray and her family. I'm just catching up on this conversation and this family has been through so much. Your empathy for them, as well as the admiration for all that the families of Dean and Tina Clouse have done for others has been shared with them. We appreciate you.

 

[Vern]

I just reported the thread to have her title updated to "Identified as Virginia Clyde Higgins Ray". May she rest in peace as her true self.

 

[LucyOso]

RIP Virginia. This is so sad. If this were today, my guess is your diagnosis and treatment would be extremely different based on your history of loss, being a victim of domestic violence, and life instability. I am glad you are going home to your family.

 

[Vern]

Here's another article on Virginia's identification. Coroner notes that she suffered a Grand Mal seizure prior to the fall that would lead to her death.

Officials: ‘Jane Doe’ identified more than 40 years after dying in hospital

According to officials, the woman was identified as Virginia Higgins Ray.

www.wsaz.com

According to medical records, Ray suffered a grand mal seizure and a subsequent fall before her death at a hospital in Columbia, South Carolina. Her death reportedly was caused by aspiration from the contents in her stomach.
...
The anthropology team eventually turned to genetic genealogists at FHD Forensics for help on the case. That team found almost 4,400 people in her family tree and 11 sets of ancestor couples with intermarried descendants. The team was eventually led to a group of surnames out of Wilmington, N.C., and the surrounding area before a targeted press release was sent out.

Officials said Ray’s daughter contacted the anthropology department on Mother’s Day of this year and said she believed they had her mother’s remains.

The Richland County Sheriff’s Department DNA lab confirmed the relationship between her and a sibling of Ray’s to the unidentified remains of “Jane Doe” on May 19.

 

[9glenn9]

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Virginia Clyde Higgins Ray, 38 years old, was married at age 16 and had a son who passed away at 9 months old of pneumonia. She went on to have several more children and in the year before her disappearance, she had given birth to another child, who was placed up for adoption. She had checked herself out of a North Carolina mental health facility the first week of February 1982 where she was being treated for schizophrenia, boarded a bus, and ended up in South Carolina. Her family searched for years but hit a brick wall when they attempted to report her missing. Years ago, a DNA match showed a match to a possible granddaughter of Virginia, but certain relatives chose not to submit a DNA sample to confirm, nor did they mention that they had a missing family member

This is extremely sad. I can't see myself refusing to submit a DNA sample to help a relative get their name back. This just doesn't make sense.

RIP Virginia Clyde Higgins Ray