After almost four decades of being known only as “Millie”, the woman found dead along the Spokane River in 1984 has been identified as Ruth Belle Waymire, thanks to DNA and genetic genealogy. However, despite this breakthrough, one question still remains: who killed her?
The Spokane Police Department and Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office announced the identification of Waymire in a news release on Wednesday. She had not been heard from since 1984, when she had a “vagabond lifestyle” spending time in Spokane and Wenatchee, and was married to Trampas D.L. Vaughn, who died in California in 2017.
Two fishermen found Waymire’s nude, decapitated body on the south shore of the Spokane River on June 20, 1984. The woman didn’t match the description of any missing people at the time. In April 1998, a skull was found in a vacant lot at Seventh Avenue and Sherman Street, which led to tips and leads pouring in, but an identification was elusive.
Police had no choice but to dub her “Millie”, until then-cutting edge DNA technology was used to match the skull to the torso found in 1984, three years later. The DNA was uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System but did not find a match.
In 2002, forensic drawings and a facial reconstruction were done to provide more information on “Millie”. In 2007, the case information was uploaded into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System’s database, and police continued to revisit the case over the years.
Last fall, after the successful use of genetic genealogy to solve the cold case killing of Candy Rogers in Spokane, police sent “Millie’s” DNA to Othram Inc. for analysis. The genealogy investigation narrowed “Millie’s” identity down to one of two sisters, one of whom was found living in the Midwest. Detectives contacted her, and after providing her DNA, it confirmed “Millie” to be Ruth Belle Waymire.
Waymire, who was 24 years old at the time of her death, grew up in Spokane and attended Rogers High School. After her parents’ divorce, she lived with her mother and sister. Following her mother’s death, the sisters went their separate ways and lost contact.
Waymire’s autopsy results showed that she had given birth to a child a year or two before her death, but investigators have not found any records of the child or children. Spokane police have yet to identify Waymire’s killer. Although Vaughn, her second husband, served time in prison in Iowa, investigators have not ruled him out as a suspect as there is no divorce record between the couple.
Waymire’s first husband, who lives in Spokane, is cooperating with the investigation and is not a suspect, according to police. Despite the breakthrough in identifying the victim, the case remains open, and the police are still actively pursuing leads in hopes of finally solving the mystery of Ruth Belle Waymire’s death.