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

[mrC]

i suspect was probelt just fobbing him off when she told him she had phoned a taxi i dont think she was going to the libary she was probely going somewhere else she dident want him to know about we can be she went in to town becouse she visted the florist but how she got there and what she did in between is anybodys guess

 

[mrC]

will kenedys story is a bit odd altogether

now ruth normally went on the school bus

so drives th her house ater the bus has gone to offer her a lift to school in his car

now how does he know she will be in how does he know she hasnt allready got on the bus

 

[davidt]

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.

Originally the school friend wasn't sure if it was the same day or the day before. Since then she appears to have firmed up that it was the same day. Open to debate obviously.

Yes, it's the first taxi journey that seems open to question. You'd presume the police have checked it out and are happy about it. Like many parts of this case finding anything definite in the ways of direct confirmation is particularly difficult.

 

[mrC]

well even if it was the day before its still sigfnificant i mean for what purpose was she doing it

and how does it fit in with the timeline of the day before

 

[davidt]

well even if it was the day before its still sigfnificant i mean for what purpose was she doing it

and how does it fit in with the timeline of the day before

Agreed its still significant. Why did she have the case, what was in it and what happened to it. Haven't really seen anything about the previous days timeline. So much depends on this sighting bring accurate but impossible for anyone to verify.

 

[avob00]

I hope this doesn’t come across as insensitive but why have there been no appeals by those closest to her in recent years? I just couldn’t imagine moving on with my life and not keeping my loved one in the pubic eye, trying to find them. This makes me believe she is still alive and her family and friends know but for some reason haven’t informed the police.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

I hope this doesn’t come across as insensitive but why have there been no appeals by those closest to her in recent years? I just couldn’t imagine moving on with my life and not keeping my loved one in the pubic eye, trying to find them. This makes me believe she is still alive and her family and friends know but for some reason haven’t informed the police.

The family have also declined to take part in documentaries or to give interviews. We know that Ruth was unhappy at home. Her father and step mother might think that either Ruth is dead or, if alive, doesn't want anything to do with them.

 

[davidt]

The family have also declined to take part in documentaries or to give interviews. We know that Ruth was unhappy at home. Her father and step mother might think that either Ruth is dead or, if alive, doesn't want anything to do with them.

Yes, the family dynamics in this one do not appear to be straightforward. There was a lot going on and the fact Ruth apparently left separate farewell letters for her father and stepmother may be an indication of some of the tensions at the time.

 

[Konstantin]

Yes, the family dynamics in this one do not appear to be straightforward. There was a lot going on and the fact Ruth apparently left separate farewell letters for her father and stepmother may be an indication of some of the tensions at the time.

There seem to have been many tensions and it's certain we don't and can't and probably shouldn't know details. I think her family don't want to be dragged through the media and may well feel that going public won't help being Ruth home.

Of course we'd all love to know more but they also deserve their privacy. I do get the frustration of the journalist who made the excellent film about Ruth but also felt he was projecting his own emotions onto the case.

 

[davidt]

There seem to have been many tensions and it's certain we don't and can't and probably shouldn't know details. I think her family don't want to be dragged through the media and may well feel that going public won't help being Ruth home.

Of course we'd all love to know more but they also deserve their privacy. I do get the frustration of the journalist who made the excellent film about Ruth but also felt he was projecting his own emotions onto the case.

Agreed. For me it's one of the rare cases where there are multiple plausible theories. The evidence such as it is can be interpreted in different ways quite validly.

 

[Konstantin]

Agreed. For me it's one of the rare cases where there are multiple plausible theories. The evidence such as it is can be interpreted in different ways quite validly.

Ruth did seem to have planned a disappearance but not necessary forever. We have no idea what she planned and her friends say they don't which I find strange but not impossible.

The sightings of Ruth after her disappearance by people who knew her are telling for me but don't explain why she hasn't ever appeared again. I don't think her parents' reaction is odd or suspicious. People process grief differently and we don't know what was happening at the time.

I hope Ruth is safe and well somewhere.

 

[davidt]

Ruth did seem to have planned a disappearance but not necessary forever. We have no idea what she planned and her friends say they don't which I find strange but not impossible.

The sightings of Ruth after her disappearance by people who knew her are telling for me but don't explain why she hasn't ever appeared again. I don't think her parents' reaction is odd or suspicious. People process grief differently and we don't know what was happening at the time.

I hope Ruth is safe and well somewhere.

It's definitely a puzzle. There's definitely evidence of planning but planning what? Certain elements look as if she intended to take her own life and equally some elements look as if they could have been staged. If she disappeared why has she never resurfaced and if she took her own life where's the body?

 

[Konstantin]

It's definitely a puzzle. There's definitely evidence of planning but planning what? Certain elements look as if she intended to take her own life and equally some elements look as if they could have been staged. If she disappeared why has she never resurfaced and if she took her own life where's the body?

It's really hard to unpick it. From one angle, the whole thing looks quite elaborate staging to me - arranging flowers to be sent with no note to her stepmum (NOT her dad apparently) 3 days after she'd gone away, notes placed or found under a bush (it was raining and stormy the night she disappeared so how did the notes survive?), vermouth (who would choose that to wash pills down with) and paracetamol (which would have caused her agonising stomach pain, severe headache, confusion if she had really taken them).

The credible sightings of her after she went away suggest that this was some sort of staging rather than real, but that is quite a devastating thing to do? And she never came back? It would suggest she was really, really angry with her parents. One of her friends did say that RW was a bit of a drama queen, whatever that means. And I can sort of get her doing that to her parents but what about her sister?

When you look at it that way, it looks quite extreme, but she was a teenager, had had a massive shock. She had run away before so clearly was very unhappy, and for her parents to say they don't recognise this version of events is either them covering up or being pretty clueless or just plain in denial.

 

[davidt]

It's really hard to unpick it. From one angle, the whole thing looks quite elaborate staging to me - arranging flowers to be sent with no note to her stepmum (NOT her dad apparently) 3 days after she'd gone away, notes placed or found under a bush (it was raining and stormy the night she disappeared so how did the notes survive?), vermouth (who would choose that to wash pills down with) and paracetamol (which would have caused her agonising stomach pain, severe headache, confusion if she had really taken them).

The credible sightings of her after she went away suggest that this was some sort of staging rather than real, but that is quite a devastating thing to do? And she never came back? It would suggest she was really, really angry with her parents. One of her friends did say that RW was a bit of a drama queen, whatever that means. And I can sort of get her doing that to her parents but what about her sister?

When you look at it that way, it looks quite extreme, but she was a teenager, had had a massive shock. She had run away before so clearly was very unhappy, and for her parents to say they don't recognise this version of events is either them covering up or being pretty clueless or just plain in denial.

Can't disagree with any of that. The stuff with the letters is bizarre.

We don't know when she wrote them. It might have been that afternoon in the library or she may have written them in advance. We've no idea how long or detailed they were or even if they may have been short scribbled notes. But above all else the one thing I would have thought that would have mattered most to Ruth would be that the intended recipients got to see and read them. What's the point otherwise? Yet they ended up under some bushes in the middle of nowhere where they may never have been found.

I agree about the combination of alcohol and paracetamol being an awful, slow way to take your life. Whether Ruth knew what the effects of a paracetamol overdose would be is another matter. Again we only really know that these were found "near" (whatever that means) the other things that were found. I find it curious that it doesn't appear these items have ever been confirmed as being definitely linked to Ruth. No information on whether any fingerprint /DNA tests etc were carried out either.

There's a part of me that wonders if someone else may have stumbled across Ruth's duffle bag and gone through it to see if there was anything worth taking and then just tossed the other bits aside. I know there's been comments the letters may gave been in some sort of container which kept them safe. I wonder if it was possible to tell whether they had been placed in the bushes or if its possible they were just thrown into the undergrowth and that's where they landed?

If Ruth did take her life that day I'm surprised she wasn't found. The search was started early and all available resources were used. Not only that but they also had a very good idea where to look. Yet no trace of Ruth was found.

As well as suicide or intended disappearance I don't entirely rule out the possibility of some sort of third party intervention.