UK UK - Ruth Wilson, 16, Dorking, 27 Nov 1995

[mrC]

if she was planning to stay out that night you would think she might of taken a coat

 

[mrC]

the thing that goes against Ruth leaving of her own free will is she doesn't take anything with not her walkman or tapes not a change of clothes or even a coat.

that doesn't strike me as someone who's planning run away it doesn't even strike me as someone whos planning to stay out the night thats strikes me as someone who is planning to return home

i mean he parents are at work, her sister is at school, she has all day to pack a bag but doesn't

 

[Plod]

the thing that goes against Ruth leaving of her own free will is she doesn't take anything with not her walkman or tapes not a change of clothes or even a coat.

that doesn't strike me as someone who's planning run away it doesn't even strike me as someone whos planning to stay out the night thats strikes me as someone who is planning to return home

i mean he parents are at work, her sister is at school, she has all day to pack a bag but doesn't

I don't know, imo, everything is replaceable, walkmans, tapes, clothes, coats. If she just wanted to disappear, she didn't have to have much with her, and if some friend picked her up, they could have everything she needed anyway. The only thing that is odd is leaving her sister, but then maybe they weren't that close, and things were so bas she wanted to disappear. If she'd ben spotted with a big bag by the taxi driver, then people would know she'd disappeared, and probably try and get more information from the friends.

 

[Konstantin]

That. plus there was a credible sighting by someone who knew Ruth of her carrying a large suitcase I think the day before or perhaps 2 days. She could easily have moved things before and her parents didn't notice or did notice and its not in the media. Not everything is reported. There will be plenty about this case that we just don't know about.

It does look very much like Ruth wanted to strongly suggest she had taken her own life and if she had taken the taxi with a big suitcase that would have given the game away. This was planned. All just my opinion of course.

 

[mrC]

she wasnt carrying anything in the taxi if she didn't go home that night how could she be carrying a suitcase the next day

 

[Plod]

she wasnt carrying anything in the taxi if she didn't go home that night how could she be carrying a suitcase the next day

No there was a sighting of a girl walking along main road into Dorking a few days (or week?) before she disappeared. Could have been Ruth moving stuff then, or could be someone totally different. Ruth didn’t have a large bag or suitcase on night of her disappearance. Imo she had no intention of going home that night or ever.

I’m not convinced the person with suitcase is her - it’s about 1 hour 15 mins walk from her home to Dorking - a long way. Why didn’t she get train. She could have done it when she was less likely to be obvious to others. I don’t think she took anything with her.

 

[mrC]

it was November surely she would want to take a coat

 

[Plod]

it was November surely she would want to take a coat

Who knows? She left home in a taxi that morning and was in the flower shop then the library. She may not have felt she needed a coat that say - i see teenagers going to school without them in winter.

She took a taxi at 4pm to BH. That time seems significant to me. It’s when schools were finishing for the day, and before the evening rush when adults started leaving work and going home. If she was waiting for someone at BH to pick her up straight away, like a school friend, then she may not think she needed a coat. A car may have been waiting for her - so we know if taxi driver was asked about other cars? She maybe waited until he’s left before getting in it.

Whet do you think happened to her?

 

[espirtu pampa]

Who knows? She left home in a taxi that morning and was in the flower shop then the library. She may not have felt she needed a coat that say - i see teenagers going to school without them in winter.

She took a taxi at 4pm to BH. That time seems significant to me. It’s when schools were finishing for the day, and before the evening rush when adults started leaving work and going home. If she was waiting for someone at BH to pick her up straight away, like a school friend, then she may not think she needed a coat. A car may have been waiting for her - so we know if taxi driver was asked about other cars? She maybe waited until he’s left before getting in it.

Whet do you think happened to her?

If I remember her "boy friend"s mother had given her clothes earlier.
Maybe she kept some for the day she was leaving including a coat.

 

[TheRockingRev]

I agree. I think Ruth laid plans to make her parents believe she had committed suicide -- the flowers, the notes. She went to Box Hill as part of laying the trail. Left the notes there with the empty bottle of booze etc, to be found. Took the taxi to leave a trail to that location otherwise who would know to look there. Let the taxi driver see her near the bridle path. Then got into another car shortly after. No CCTV then so no trail of where she went after. I don't think laying a false trail like this is a genius level plan at all. Ruth was smart enough, and she must have had help. You want to run away and punish your dad for not telling you about your mum's suicide so you make him think you did the same. All my opinion only.

Of course no one who helped her ever came forward because they would not want to get into trouble and they did not want Ruth to be found. That is not hard to understand.

Much easier to disappear back then as you say. Cash in hand work, no ID needed, no digital footprint to follow. We can only hope whoever helped her didn't exploit her if they were an adult.

Perhaps even the story about Ruth buying a meal "to remember her by" was part of the false trail.

All my opinion only.

I fully agree - I think you've summed up my thoughts exactly. JMO but this is probably what happened.

I do think that it was her who was caught on shop CCTV a year later - it surely can't be a coincidence that a girl started crying in a shop exactly one year to the day when she saw headlines about Ruth. JMO this was Ruth, after a year away she was probably struggling mentally and went back to Dorking. Full of emotion seeing the headlines just sparked something more.

Same as you I hope she wasn't taken advantage of and has been able to find some happiness and peace in her life.

 

[Plod]

I fully agree - I think you've summed up my thoughts exactly. JMO but this is probably what happened.

I do think that it was her who was caught on shop CCTV a year later - it surely can't be a coincidence that a girl started crying in a shop exactly one year to the day when she saw headlines about Ruth. JMO this was Ruth, after a year away she was probably struggling mentally and went back to Dorking. Full of emotion seeing the headlines just sparked something more.

Same as you I hope she wasn't taken advantage of and has been able to find some happiness and peace in her life.

All good. i just think though, would she take the risk and appear so close to home, when she could be spotted by anybody, a year later? Unless she's still fairly local (London?) and wanted to go check it out one more time. Maybe she did go a year later, she is over 18 now, and they can't make her go back to her dad's. I just wonder though if her plan partly was to bring torment on her dad and step mom, and she is living a long way a way, and continues to do so. Just wondering if the 30 year anniversary will have any further leads.

 

[Konstantin]

Ruth was spotted in the library in Dorking by someone who knew her from school. That's how the police know she went there. But it is not clear what she was doing for the rest of the day from noon until 4pm when she was seen there.

 

[Konstantin]

This is the Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser from 5 December 1996. There were sightings of Ruth in the area around where she went missing, including in a local shop.

 

[Konstantin]

Also the Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser, 28 November 1996, when the reconstruction was made.

At this stage, the Wilsons thought someone had helped Ruth disappear on the basis of there being 2 positive sightings of her in Dorking a couple of days after she went missing.