Details about husband sought in 50-year 'Lady of the Dunes' cold case
Investigators are seeking information on the apparent husband of Ruth Marie Terry, the oldest unidentified homicide victim in Massachusetts who was known as the "Lady of the Dunes." She was officially identified on Monday almost 50 years after she was found dead.
Terry, 37, of Tennessee, is believed to have married the late Guy Rockwell Muldavin several months before her body was found in the Provincetown. The two also had various aliases. Terry was also known as Teri Marie Vizina, Terry M Vixina and Teri Shannon. Muldavin was also known as Raoul Guy Rockwell or Guy Muldavin Rockwell. Investigators are specifically seeking information including their whereabouts in 1973 and 1974 in the New England area -- particularly Massachusetts and Cape Cod.
Terry's cause of death was a blow to the head, the FBI said. Her hands were missing, "presumably removed by her killer so she could not be identified through fingerprints, and her head was nearly severed from her body," said Joe Bonavolonta, the special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division.
On July 26, 1974, her dismembered body was found in the dunes in Provincetown.
Investigators said investigative genealogy helped them identify the body.
"This is a unique method that can generate new leads for unsolved homicides, as well as help identify unknown victims," Bonavolonta said. "This is, without a doubt, a major break in the investigation that will, hopefully, bring all of us closer to identifying her killer."
The news has been delivered to the victim’s family, he added.
"At this point in time, we can tell you she was born in Tennessee in 1936," Bonavolonta said. "Ruth was a daughter, sister, aunt, wife, and mother. Investigators have also determined that in addition to Tennessee, she had ties to California, Massachusetts, and Michigan."
