For nearly half a century, she was a ghost with no name.
Buried in the sands of Cape Cod, known only as the Lady of the Dunes, she haunted police, locals, and true-crime investigators alike. Her mutilated body, discovered in July 1974 by a 12-year-old girl, became one of America’s most enduring mysteries — a symbol of brutality without a face.
But now, nearly five decades later, forensic science has finally given her back her name — and revealed a truth far darker than anyone imagined.
💔 She Was Ruth Marie Terry — and Her Killer Slept Beside Her
In 2022, the FBI used advanced genetic genealogy to identify the Lady of the Dunes as Ruth Marie Terry, a 37-year-old woman from Tennessee. She was a mother, a sister, a daughter — and a newlywed.
Her husband, Guy Rockwell Mulvan, had returned from their honeymoon alone, telling friends they had “fought and gone their separate ways.” He never filed a missing person report.
He never spoke her name again.
Now, after nearly half a century, investigators have confirmed what many feared:
Ruth’s killer was the man she trusted most — her husband.
🏝️ The Discovery That Shattered Provincetown
On July 26, 1974, a young girl walking through the dunes of Provincetown stumbled upon a horror she’d never forget:
a woman’s body, lying face-down on a beach towel, hands missing, skull crushed, and nearly decapitated. Her long auburn hair was spread out like a halo in the sand — but her killer had destroyed her face beyond recognition.
For years, investigators tried everything — clay reconstructions, sketches, even theories connecting her to the Jaws movie filming nearby. But the Lady of the Dunes remained a phantom.
Until DNA told the story no one else could.
⚖️ The Husband With a Hidden Past
When investigators began digging into Guy Mulvan’s history, what they found was a trail of deception and violence.
He had multiple marriages, accusations of fraud, and a reputation for manipulation. Ruth was his latest victim in a pattern that stretched across states and decades.
After her death, Mulvan lived out his days quietly, remarrying, reinventing himself — while Ruth lay buried under a headstone marked “Unidentified Female.” He died in 2002, never facing justice, his secret buried with him… or so he thought.
💐 The Woman Who Would Not Stay Forgotten
Ruth’s son, Richard Hansen, had spent years searching for his mother, never knowing her fate. For him — and for the small community that had mourned an unknown woman for nearly half a century — the truth is both heartbreaking and healing.
“She wasn’t just a body in the dunes,” one investigator said. “She was a woman who loved and was loved — and she finally has her name back.”
🕯️ Justice May Be Late — But It Came
The identification of Ruth Marie Terry has reignited conversations about how many other “Jane Does” lie waiting to be named. It’s a triumph for forensic science — but also a chilling reminder of how easily evil can hide in plain sight.
Her story is no longer just a cold case. It’s a warning.
Because sometimes the most terrifying monsters aren’t the strangers in the dark…
They’re the ones who promise to love you forever.
👉 Click the link in the comments to see the newly released FBI files, crime scene photos, and the full story of how science and perseverance finally brought the Lady of the Dunes home — and exposed the killer who thought he’d buried the truth forever.
