After Nearly 50 Years, P-town’s Lady of the Dunes Gets a Name
The nearly 50-year mystery of the famed Lady of the Dunes has been solved.Her body was discovered on July 26, 1974 in Provincetown, making her the oldest unidentified homicide victim in Massachusetts..
Twelve-year-old Leslie Metcalfe and her parents were hiking after a day at a dune shack when they spotted something strange in the scrub pines.The nude body was lying on half a beach towel, as if she had been sharing it with a companion, her head resting on folded Wrangler jeans and a blue bandana.A blow to her head had left her nearly decapitated.
But her reddish hair was still visible. Her hands were missing, presumably to avoid fingerprints. She had extensive dental work, and her toenails were painted pink.The case baffled decades of investigators.That is, until now.On Monday, October 31, 2022, the “Lady” was finally identified as Ruth Marie Terry, 37, of Tennessee.
She had connections to California, Michigan, and Massachusetts.According to Joseph Bonavolonta, a special FBI agent with the Boston bureau, Terry “was a daughter, sister, aunt, wife and mother.”The identification was made through “investigative genealogy,” a blend of DNA analysis and genealogical research.There had been many previous attempts to identify the Lady of the Dunes.
