“Lady of the Dunes” Cold Case: Victim’s Husband Identified as Killer
In a significant breakthrough last fall, authorities have confirmed that the mysterious “Lady of the Dunes” cold case, which had puzzled investigators for nearly five decades, has finally been solved. The shocking revelation points to Ruth Marie Terry’s late husband as the perpetrator, according to the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s office.
Back in 1974, the lifeless body of Ruth Marie Terry, a 37-year-old woman from Tennessee, was tragically discovered in the sandy dunes of Provincetown, a popular summer destination in Massachusetts. Her husband at the time, Guy Rockwell Muldavin, has now been posthumously identified as the one responsible for her demise.
Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois officially confirmed this unsettling revelation on Monday, closing a chapter on one of Massachusetts’ most perplexing cold cases. Muldavin, who passed away in 2002, had remained a prime suspect for years in this unsolved mystery.
Ruth Marie Terry and Guy Rockwell Muldavin had only been married for a few months when Terry met her tragic end. The couple had journeyed to Tennessee after their wedding to visit Terry’s family. Unfortunately, after this visit, Terry vanished without a trace, leaving her family in anguish.
When Muldavin returned from the trip alone, he was driving Terry’s vehicle and informed witnesses that Terry had passed away. The exact circumstances surrounding her death remained a mystery until this recent revelation.
Notably, Guy Rockwell Muldavin was previously implicated in the deaths of another wife and a stepdaughter during a cold case investigation in Seattle during the 1960s.
The discovery of Ruth Marie Terry’s body in 1974 was a gruesome scene, witnessed accidentally by a 12-year-old girl. Terry’s naked body had suffered extensive mutilation and was in an advanced state of decay. Her hands had been severed to prevent fingerprint identification. The extent of her injuries included near decapitation and a crushed skull.
After years of being known simply as the “Lady of the Dunes,” Terry’s identity was finally unveiled through genetic genealogy testing conducted at Othram, a Texas-based forensics lab specializing in missing persons and cold cases. This scientific breakthrough provided closure for a case that had remained shrouded in mystery for almost half a century.