Ruth Baumgardner - A VERY Cold Case

[RogerV]

Ruth Baumgardner was a 21 year-old Senior at Ohio Wesleyen University in the Spring of 1937. She was the daughter of a wealthy manufacturer, was engaged to a young man in her home town, and had received a brand-new 1937 Dodge convertible as an early graduation present from her parents. As far as anyone knew, she had no major problems or issues, though she had expressed concern that she might not have enough credits to graduate.

Late one evening in May, 1937 she left her sorority house to walk back to the dormitory where she slept in a single room (which must have been quite a rarity in 1937). The next day she failed to show up for classes, but was not reported as missing until almost 24 hours after she was last seen. Her dorm room was in perfect order and appeared to contain most of her personal effects. Her keys were found on the steps of the dormitory, and her car keys were in the car, which was still parked in its usual garage (yes, there was once a time when you could actually leave the keys in your car and still not have to worry about it being stolen).

The story was heavily covered by newspapers in the region, and both the police and a private investigator hired by Ruth's parents followed up every angle and lead. Finally, her parents asked the police to close the case in 1939.

I hope I'm not in violation of forum rules by bringing in a link to another discussion site (which I have NOT posted on), as it seems to be the easiest way to show what has already been discussed, and that people have been actively seeking new information, even at this very late date:

http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30193

It is interesting that many posters are of the opinion that Ruth disappeared intentionally, but I'm not sure I agree. She had only one outfit and a recently-purchased small overnight case with her and very little money. Unless she stockpiled supplies somewhere I can't believe the intentional disappearance theory.

The only thing I have been able to contribute in the way of research is to examine the layout of the University. The campus is long and narrow, and the "Fraternity Row" and "Sorority Row" (two separate rows) are at the western end. The dorm is at the extreme Northwest corner of the campus, and it would only be necessary to cross one street to be off campus completely. This also means that Ruth's walk from her Sorority house to her dorm was only slightly more than one block long.

I have a few other things to say, but at this point would like to hear what anyone else thinks of the very old but interesting case...

--Roger

[dreama_08]

I am new to this site but I really like this story. Where can I find more on Ruth

[RogerV]

Originally Posted by dreama_08

I am new to this site but I really like this story. Where can I find more on Ruth

The link in my original post takes you to the largest collection of information I've been able to find so far. Others have already looked at newspaper stories and seen what information the college has on this case, and I honestly don't know of where else anyone could look.

I'm also not so certain of my opinion that it was an involuntary disappearance. It's just possible that things were NOT as nice for Ruth as it appeared on the surface. She in fact may not have been as happily engaged as people thought. Also, nothing says whether her car was checked for fingerprints, and so much time had passed by the time she was reported missing the engine would have been cold, giving no indication that it might have been driven that night.

All we can do at this point is speculate, but that can be quite interesting also.

[SaraSidle]

Originally Posted by RogerV

The link in my original post takes you to the largest collection of information I've been able to find so far. Others have already looked at newspaper stories and seen what information the college has on this case, and I honestly don't know of where else anyone could look.

I'm also not so certain of my opinion that it was an involuntary disappearance. It's just possible that things were NOT as nice for Ruth as it appeared on the surface. She in fact may not have been as happily engaged as people thought. Also, nothing says whether her car was checked for fingerprints, and so much time had passed by the time she was reported missing the engine would have been cold, giving no indication that it might have been driven that night.

All we can do at this point is speculate, but that can be quite interesting also.

I think she got cold feet regarding marriage and graduation. Since she was pregnant and in love she took off with the father of the baby, got married, changed her name and had babies. IMO

[RogerV]

Originally Posted by SaraSidle

I think she got cold feet regarding marriage and graduation. Since she was pregnant and in love she took off with the father of the baby, got married, changed her name and had babies. IMO

I certainly agree that she might have gotten cold feet about marriage and maybe even graduation, but we don't know she was pregnant -- that's a frequent assumption whenever a young woman goes missing for no apparent reason.

My opinion swings back and forth; if it was a voluntary disappearance, she planned it VERY carefully, and hid herself extremely well. If it was involuntary, someone was very skillful at grabbing her without being seen or heard.

Remember, this was a small religious college in a fairly small town in the late 1930's. A stranger hanging around campus would have been noticed, and at the time she set out on her walk, the campus and neighborhood would have been very quiet.

I now wonder if she planned to meet someone, and the meeting went badly wrong, resulting in her kidnapping and/or murder.

[SaraSidle]

I agree Roger. Your version may have happened also. I know a lot went on at the Loss place so anything is possible to me. IMO

[RogerV]

Originally Posted by SaraSidle

I agree Roger. Your version may have happened also. I know a lot went on at the Loss place so anything is possible to me. IMO

You are certainly correct when you say anything is possible. My fascination with this so-cold-it's-almost-frozen case isn't easy to explain. To some extent, it's probably a manifestation of the "If She's Pretty and Blonde" phenomenon where the disappearance of a white girl from an upper-class suburb gets more attention than the disappearance of a minority girl from an inner city neighborhood.

However, there's more to it than that. On the surface at least, Ruth had everything to live for and to look forward to. Her family was well-off during the Great Depression, and to leave that all behind would have called for VERY compelling reasons. I freely admit those reasons could have existed-- perhaps her family was pushing her into marriage, and maybe the extremely unusual gift of a brand-new convertible was a "bribe" to get her to marry, or to stay in school, or possibly both.

So... we don't know WHY she disappeared; can we make any conclusions to HOW she disappeared? This is a link to a map of the Ohio Wesleyen University campus:

http://admission.owu.edu/map.html

We are primarily interested in sector "6" where both Ruth's sorority (Delta Delta Delta) #C, and her dorm, #1 are located. It can be seen that the distance between the two locations is barely a block and a half. Furthermore, the route was past other sororities as well as numerous private homes. If she had screamed, SOMEBODY would have heard her.

Unfortunately the information given in the discussion I linked in the beginning of this thread is unclear as to whether her keys were found on the INSIDE or the OUTSIDE steps of her dorm. It doesn't sound like anyone actually saw her in the dorm, so was someone trying to use the keys to get in, and was unable to do so?

I intended to write more on this, but I'm kind of fading. I realize what I've said here can support the different contentions... that her disappearance was voluntary or that it was involuntary. There are additional dynamics on what it was like to be a co-ed in the 1930's, but I'll save them for later. Does anyone see anything on the maps that I have missed?

[dan_uk]

Baumgardner was happily engaged to her boyfriend in Lakewood and her friends did not believe she was seeing anyone else. There is also no evidence of foul play in her case, although a local resident living near the Ohio Wesleyan campus reported hearing screams between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. on May 5.

Little evidence is available in Baumgardner's case. Her disappearance is no longer being investigated by police due to the passage of time, but her case remains a mystery.

[RogerV]

Originally Posted by dan_uk

Baumgardner was happily engaged to her boyfriend in Lakewood and her friends did not believe she was seeing anyone else. There is also no evidence of foul play in her case, although a local resident living near the Ohio Wesleyan campus reported hearing screams between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. on May 5.

Little evidence is available in Baumgardner's case. Her disappearance is no longer being investigated by police due to the passage of time, but her case remains a mystery.

So what exactly is the point in posting information we already know??

[dan_uk]

Originally Posted by RogerV

So what exactly is the point in posting information we already know??

so where does it say about the local resident hearing screams?