FBI identifies ‘Lady of the Dunes,’ victim of ’74 Cape Cod murder

The FBI said Monday the victim of a 1974 murder on Cape Cod has been identified.

Ruth Marie Terry, 37, was found to be the victim through “investigative genealogy,” the FBI said.

“This is, without a doubt, a major break in the investigation that will hopefully bring us all closer to identifying the killer,” FBI special agent Joseph Bonavolonta said.

“Now that we have reached this pivotal point, investigators and analysts will turn their attention to conducting logical investigative steps that include learning more about her, as well as working to identify who is responsible for her murder.”

Terry, who was previously only known as the ”Lady of the Dunes,” was found July 26, 1974 on a beach near Provincetown with her hands missing and head “nearly severed.” The cause of death was likely blunt force trauma to her head.

The FBI — along with the Massachusetts State Police, Provincetown Police, Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office — will now focus on identifying, and hopefully capturing, the murderer.

“If Ruth Marie hadn’t met her assailant in 1974, she could be 86 years old today. If the person responsible for the crime was in his or her 20s or 30s, he would be in his late 60s or 70s,” said Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe.

“If we was a little older, he may well be dead. But we will assume he is not. And we will pursue every lead and every clue to bring this person to justice”

Terry was born in Tennessee in 1936 and had connections to a number of states. The officials did not reveal additional information about her family or where they may be located.

“Today’s identification is not the end of the case, or even the beginning of the end, but it does mark an important milestone,” said Massachusetts State Police Col. Christopher Mason. “What we need to do now is to learn everything about Ruth Terry’s life; what she did, where she went, who she associated with, all in hopes that those details and that timeline will lead us to her killer.”