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

[GaHAu]

As relationships seemed fractured, I also thought there was an underhand message to sending those flowers.

If you research the local newspapers, it is striking how involved Ruth and her step-mother were in flower arranging competitions, village shows etc.

 

[greenwoodlad]

I wonder if the letters were ever finger printed

Im convinced these letters were not put there by Ruth even tho they were written by her....question is what is the relevance of leaving them under a bush where they may never be found - why leave them at all ?

 

[mrC]

maybe someone just wanted to just uickly get rid of the letters and that was the rist place they could think of

 

[Cardgame]

I have recently discovered this thread and been reading up on it ever since. I have so many thoughts and questions.

I also took a look at the Facebook group which seems fairly active. There are some very interesting comments by JH and BA, particularly in relation to what RW believed about her mother's death.

If true, this would very clearly explain why she might want to never speak to her father again.

This year will be 30 years since Ruth disappeared.

We are exactly the same age, so TECH wise I can speak to the kinds of things she would have been able to access or might have been doing very easily.

I will post more thoughts.

 

[Cardgame]

Here is the text from the original newspaper article on the daily mail 2006 containing the open letter. It's worth reading I think -partly for additional details of the case itself- but also as the edited versions, taken out of context of the original article, make it seem quite odd. But the oddness is IMO coming from journalistic intervention, IE it's not really a 'letter', it's an article written by a journalist who spoke to the parents.

"Ruth Wilson was 16 when she went missing in November 1995. Her parents Ian, 56, and Karen, are teachers in Betchworth, Surrey. They have a younger daughter, Jenny, 24. Ian writes:
Dear Ruth We still have the presents we bought you for Christmas in 1995. They're safe in a drawer - waiting for you to come back, though I expect your tastes have changed so much you'd probably laugh at the music and clothes. Though the house is too large now that your sister Jenny has moved out, we can't bear to move. It's your home after all. Jenny lives nearby. You remember how she adores horses? Now she's got a full-time job in an equestrian centre. She's as happy as she can be without her big sister around. Your disappearance is still a mystery. You were confident, independent minded and, apart from the usual teenage frictions, seemed so happy at home. You enjoyed bell ringing and had just started learning to play the organ. The congregation at the local church still prays for you every week. Though you'd just broken off with your boyfriend, you were still close. You had lots of friends and had just joined the sixth form and were talking of studying archaeology at university. You had a Saturday job in a music shop, and were so trustworthy that neighbours queued up to ask you to babysit. In fact, you were so reliable that when you didn't come home from school that Monday afternoon in November 1995, we assumed we'd forgotten one of your many activities. It was late at night before the terrible truth dawned. Surrey police swept straight into action. They've been brilliant and still keep in touch. They discovered that, instead of going to school, you had called a taxi to take you to Dorking library. You took taxis occasionally and regularly visited the library, but even so, this was totally out of character. As the day progressed, your behaviour became even more inexplicable. You visited a florist and ordered an expensive bouquet for Mum. You left no message - simply strict instructions that it must not be delivered until Wednesday. Then, around 4pm, you called another taxi from Dorking station and asked to be taken to Box Hill, a local beauty spot. You asked the driver to leave you by a bridleway a short way from a pub. The light was failing as you got out. The driver says you stood there as he drove off. You can imagine our terror and how we searched month after month. I trawled London - hoping against hope I'd find you. We wondered if you had a secret, but your Filofax revealed nothing. The police discovered you had visited Box Hill before, but don't know why. They also found that you'd been worried about your grades and had hidden your last school report from us. There have been many false leads. Every time our spirits are raised, only to be dashed again. It's torture. Even now I find myself driving past bus stops and staring. Could that young woman - you're 27 now - be you? Most of all, we want you to know that while we miss you desperately and want to know you're fine, we have never been angry with you, whatever prompted you to go that day. We are just so sad that a big chunk of your life has been lived without us. There is nothing to forgive. Mum and I simply want to put our arms around you and tell you how much we love you. All any parent wants is for their child to be happy. Knowing you are safe and well - even if you don't want to come home - would make me the happiest man in the world. {4}"

 

[chimpface]

If Ruth had killed herself she would have been found by now, you can't kill yourself and hide yourself forever.

She was only 16, I believe she came to some sort of foul play and has been hidden.

IMO

 

[Cardgame]

Pre-internet, it used to be possible to look up old newspaper articles on something called a "Microfiche", these were held at the library.

It was an extremely slow process compared to what is available now, basically like photocopies of newspapers uploaded into a light box, you entered a kind of slide, and then manually searched each page of the paper.

You could easily spend three hours looking up to discover if there was information about, for example, your mother's death, from newspapers around the time she died.

Curious if Dorking library had such a machine.

 

[JennieM]

Reading the letter, it struck me how her father didn’t suspect foul play at all. Even if Ruth went to Box hill willingly, she may have been harmed by someone.

 

[Phoenix_Sleuth]

I have read about this case a few times.

What has never been revealed to my knowledge is who exactly saw her last.

Was it the taxi driver who dropped her at the Hand in Hand pub or was she actually seen in the pub?

Or was she dropped outside the pub and the pub has nothing to do with it? Just a drop off point.

There's a real lack of information on this case.

Has the taxi driver been thoroughly checked out?

When was his next fare? etc.

 

[VioletLilac]

If Ruth had killed herself she would have been found by now, you can't kill yourself and hide yourself forever.

She was only 16, I believe she came to some sort of foul play and has been hidden.

IMO

I think this too. Has Levi Bellfield been ruled out? Even if she had planned to go off somewhere, she could still have been preyed on by someone. Either the person she planned to meet or someone trawling around looking for young girls.

 

[mrC]

the police seem to hae taken her disappearance very seriously considering she had run away before and was nearly old enough to leave home normaly such cases arnt gien much priority but ruth was wondering why the actions of the police suggest that they did think she had gone of her own free will but why did they think that

 

[Cardgame]

the police seem to hae taken her disappearance very seriously considering she had run away before and was nearly old enough to leave home normaly such cases arnt gien much priority but ruth was wondering why the actions of the police suggest that they did think she had gone of her own free will but why did they think that

Initially it seems the story given by the family was that everything was perfectly fine and ruth was completely happy. So when she didn't show up that night (and presumably they then found out she never made it to school) initial speculation might have been that something happened to her on the way to school.

The timeline is confusing though, because the reports all say police searched box hill that night, but they had to some some investigation before they could have confirmed she was up on box hill to begin with. And the fathers letter suggests he didn't even contact LE until quite late in the day.

So they acted extremely fast. Subsequent inquiries, leading them to uncover that Ruth was in fact quite troubled, may have changed their assumptions about whether she was a likely runaway.

That small deception on behalf of the family is curious to me. Was it self deception, wishful thinking, or purposeful deception designed to mislead? And if purposeful, was it to encourage them to search faster? Or to encourage them not to search too close to home?

 

[Konstantin]

That small deception on behalf of the family is curious to me. Was it self deception, wishful thinking, or purposeful deception designed to mislead? And if purposeful, was it to encourage them to search faster? Or to encourage them not to search too close to home?

Ruth had run away before, and not that long before she disappeared. She went to a friend's house that time. Her family must therefore have known she was troubled. So perhaps that was why they expressed urgency to the police. I don't think the family concealed much from the police, who have gone on record saying they were aware of the situation at home but didn't make it public because that might affect the public's response to appeals about Ruth going missing.

Her family did conceal the full situation from journalists, which led Martin Bright to write his initial piece on Ruth believing that her stepmother was her birth mum.

 

[Cardgame]

Ruth had run away before, and not that long before she disappeared. She went to a friend's house that time. Her family must therefore have known she was troubled. So perhaps that was why they expressed urgency to the police. I don't think the family concealed much from the police, who have gone on record saying they were aware of the situation at home but didn't make it public because that might affect the public's response to appeals about Ruth going missing.

Her family did conceal the full situation from journalists, which led Martin Bright to write his initial piece on Ruth believing that her stepmother was her birth mum.

Ah thank you for clarifying.

 

[wtiger]

strange old case and another example of the public being given half of the story while being asked to help.

personally i don't think anyone would have cared any less had the whole story been given upon appealing to the public.

sad story which i am sure could have been resolved with just a little more candour

 

[mrC]

im wondering whether she really was that unhappy or had such a strained relashenship with her family i mean this all seems to be based on the word of one person who says she was a friend of ruths but we dont even know if thats true.

 

[Cardgame]

im wondering whether she really was that unhappy or had such a strained relashenship with her family i mean this all seems to be based on the word of one person who says she was a friend of ruths but we dont even know if thats true.

I thought it was at least a couple of friends, the Facebook page certainly suggests there is more than one person who would back that story up. But I can't quote it here.

I suppose the fact that the dad does now seem to believe she has run away might also back it up. After all, if everything was fine at home, why would you ever accept that as the likely explanation?

 

[Konstantin]

im wondering whether she really was that unhappy or had such a strained relashenship with her family i mean this all seems to be based on the word of one person who says she was a friend of ruths but we dont even know if thats true.

She was unhappy enough that she planned to run away, and had run away before. It was based on the words of more than one of her mates. Whether she planned to run away temporarily or permanently -- or to take her own life -- we don't know, but she planned something.

I suppose the fact that the dad does now seem to believe she has run away might also back it up. After all, if everything was fine at home, why would you ever accept that as the likely explanation?

Her dad perhaps knows more than he has said publicly but wants to preserve some sense that everything was OK at home. That's his right to do. There might be more facts that have not been made public. But Ruth is still missing, so she has not come forward to say she is safe but wants no contact with family. It's never been classed as a murder enquiry.

 

[mrC]

she referred to her stepmother as mum a lot of girls wouldn't do that there must something of a bond between them her friend ben says she was a drama queen if that is case she may have given the impression that she disliked her family more than she actually did and was more unhappy than she actually was

 

[greenwoodlad]

I think this too. Has Levi Bellfield been ruled out? Even if she had planned to go off somewhere, she could still have been preyed on by someone. Either the person she planned to meet or someone trawling around looking for young girls.

Levi Bellfield is a possibility but where's her body ? weren't Bellfield's victims's bodies all found ?