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

[davidt]

did she weather the suitcase sighting happend in daylight or not that might give us some clue as to the time

The person commented that she wasn't sure but believes it was late morning to mid afternoon. She's absolutely certain it was Ruth and that she knows what she saw.

 

[mrC]

i would guess it must of been morning becouse if she took a tai into town i doubt she would then want to go all the way back to pack a suitcase so im guessing she had allready packed it and had it in the taxi

 

[davidt]

i would guess it must of been morning becouse if she took a tai into town i doubt she would then want to go all the way back to pack a suitcase so im guessing she had allready packed it and had it in the taxi

She tends to think it was more likely the afternoon. Of course can't confirm the person is the witness in question but certainly appears to be genuine. What's interesting is that she doesn't say for sure it was a suitcase. She says that it was a big blue bag thing or a suitcase. She also describes Ruth as "power walking". I'm just wondering if it could have been the blue duffle bag Ruth was known to have with her and she's misremembering the size of it?

 

[alb1on]

funny shes insistant on what the date was but doesnt know what the time was

Why do you think she does not know the time? It simply was not in her social media posts.

 

[mrC]

the secound driver gave adetaile statement but i dont think we have heard anything from the first driver or where he droped her of or anything liked he must of been asked to make a statement

 

[davidt]

Why do you think she does not know the time? It simply was not in her social media posts.

Yep, she's said it was likely late morning to mid afternoon and more likely around 3pm but she can't be sure. She also said more than once that she's absolutely sure what she saw and isn't going to change her mind. I don't think we are allowed to quote social media posts directly?

 

[mrC]

now ruth told her boyftiend that she was takeing a taxi to the libary and in the doc it says phoned a taci in the next village but im wondering weather this taxi ride really happend as there is no statement from the driver of this taxi no driver seems to have mentioned driving ruth to the libary so did this even happen

 

[TheRockingRev]

now ruth told her boyftiend that she was takeing a taxi to the libary and in the doc it says phoned a taci in the next village but im wondering weather this taxi ride really happend as there is no statement from the driver of this taxi no driver seems to have mentioned driving ruth to the libary so did this even happen

To be fair, this isn't a major line of enquiry really. We know that somehow Ruth went to the library (and the florists) so however she got there doesn't really make too much difference I would think.

 

[alb1on]

Yep, she's said it was likely late morning to mid afternoon and more likely around 3pm but she can't be sure. She also said more than once that she's absolutely sure what she saw and isn't going to change her mind. I don't think we are allowed to quote social media posts directly?

You have found another post from the witness which is useful. If the person I suggested as the witness is correct she would have been in the 5th form, one year below Ruth, at the time. The relevance of this is that, unlike 6th form, any younger sets are expected to be on the school site through the day (except at lunchtime). So this would place the possible sighting times as lunch (say 12.30 -1.30) or from 3.00 onwards.

 

[davidt]

You have found another post from the witness which is useful. If the person I suggested as the witness is correct she would have been in the 5th form, one year below Ruth, at the time. The relevance of this is that, unlike 6th form, any younger sets are expected to be on the school site through the day (except at lunchtime). So this would place the possible sighting times as lunch (say 12.30 -1.30) or from 3.00 onwards.

From what I read 3ish seems likely.

 

[SteveH]

You have found another post from the witness which is useful. If the person I suggested as the witness is correct she would have been in the 5th form, one year below Ruth, at the time. The relevance of this is that, unlike 6th form, any younger sets are expected to be on the school site through the day (except at lunchtime). So this would place the possible sighting times as lunch (say 12.30 -1.30) or from 3.00 onwards.

See my second comment on 3 July 2025 on this thread for more info on this claimed sighting. The "witness" stated "I know I was off school that day and my dad was taking me somewhere I can’t remember if it was late morning or afternoon as it was such a long time ago."

 

[alb1on]

See my second comment on 3 July 2025 on this thread for more info on this claimed sighting. The "witness" stated "I know I was off school that day and my dad was taking me somewhere I can’t remember if it was late morning or afternoon as it was such a long time ago."

Thanks. I had missed that post. I have been thinking about this sighting. I would have recognised and registered a sighting of a minority of the pupils in the year ahead of me when I was at school so I think the confidence in this sighting rests on how well she knew Ruth. If they shared interests such as school teams or lived near to each other the sighting should be reliable. If not I would reserve judgement. I know she said she was confident in the sighting but I would prefer to know more detail driving that confidence.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Thanks. I had missed that post. I have been thinking about this sighting. I would have recognised and registered a sighting of a minority of the pupils in the year ahead of me when I was at school so I think the confidence in this sighting rests on how well she knew Ruth. If they shared interests such as school teams or lived near to each other the sighting should be reliable. If not I would reserve judgement. I know she said she was confident in the sighting but I would prefer to know more detail driving that confidence.

In the post I read, the witness seemed to know Ruth as she commented that she was a nice girl, but was bullied at school. That suggests a degree of knowledge of Ruth, sufficient to recognise her.

 

[mrC]

i think to look in to weather the taxi really happend becouse iwould help to establish how reliable the suitcase story is i finding it hard to belive somone wouldent be noticied in a libary if they were humping a suitcase about

i also think its unlikey that she would take a taxi to town then walk to pack a suitcase and go out agian

 

[davidt]

i think to look in to weather the taxi really happend becouse iwould help to establish how reliable the suitcase story is i finding it hard to belive somone wouldent be noticied in a libary if they were humping a suitcase about

i also think its unlikey that she would take a taxi to town then walk to pack a suitcase and go out agian

Reading between the lines the witness seems to believe she wasn't taken seriously because Ruth was supposed to have taken a taxi and therefore she couldn't have seen Ruth. The witness however is adamant about what she saw. I don't really know how this can be resolved other than someone being able to verify the taxi journey. Even then it wouldn't necessarily be conclusive given the witness isn't sure of the time of the sighting to start with.

 

[mrC]

well as far as i can see the only evdence for a tai ride was ruth tellling her boyfriend she had called one there doesnt seem to be any statement from the driver and theres no witneses to her being in the libary

 

[davidt]

well as far as i can see the only evdence for a tai ride was ruth tellling her boyfriend she had called one there doesnt seem to be any statement from the driver and theres no witneses to her being in the libary

I have wondered why she declined a lift from her friend. Most would have accepted to save spending money unnecessarily on a taxi. May be nothing in it but could the reason be that Ruth was planning to do something else before going to the library? Something she didn't want others knowing about?

 

[TheRockingRev]

i think to look in to weather the taxi really happend becouse iwould help to establish how reliable the suitcase story is i finding it hard to belive somone wouldent be noticied in a libary if they were humping a suitcase about

i also think its unlikey that she would take a taxi to town then walk to pack a suitcase and go out agian

There isn't any reason to believe the taxi journey in the evening didn't take place - the taxi driver gave all the info.

The bigger questions here are:

a). was the sighting by the school friend definitely on the same day?
b). if so - what time was it?
c). What exactly were Ruth's movements on the day?

We have a fairly good timeline being that she went to Dorking, went to the florists (as the time has been confirmed about midday) and went to the library before getting a taxi at 4pm from the station. But we don't know for sure how long she was at the library for - there's never been a witness, AFAIK, that has confirmed her being in there for a set time. So with that in mind, she could've left at 2pm, gone to collect her case from wherever it was and taken it somewhere else (hence the sighting which some are saying could be around 3pm) gone back to town to the station and got the taxi at 4pm. This would set-up her ruse of the whole Box Hill situation. Then after being dropped off she could've walked / been picked-up by whoever had her suitcase.

Alternatively do we have any witness statements from the taxi driver in the morning? If not then the sighting with her suitcase could have been from the morning, so sort of putting the idea above into an earlier time frame.

There are a number of hours where we don't have any concrete proof of where she was.

The key here really is the time that the witness saw her with the case. But above all it just adds, JMO, that she was helped in making her disappearance.

 

[TheRockingRev]

I have wondered why she declined a lift from her friend. Most would have accepted to save spending money unnecessarily on a taxi. May be nothing in it but could the reason be that Ruth was planning to do something else before going to the library? Something she didn't want others knowing about?

Absolutely - it could also be that that friend, and I stress JMO, could've helped her later on in the day but this would give him a sort of alibi by saying that he did see her earlier in the day, but that was the last time he saw her.

 

[davidt]

Absolutely - it could also be that that friend, and I stress JMO, could've helped her later on in the day but this would give him a sort of alibi by saying that he did see her earlier in the day, but that was the last time he saw her.

Perhaps she was going to collect the suitcase? Total speculation of course.