Ghost Town: Strange History, True Crime, & the Paranormal · Ghost Town

368: Return to the Lady of the Dunes

·18 min·1 clip
A 12-year-old girl finds a headless woman's body in the dunes, sparking a 50-year mystery.
The episode explores the 1974 murder of the Lady of the Dunes in Cape Cod, detailing the grisly discovery, decades of investigation, and the 2023 breakthrough using DNA and forensic genealogy to identify the victim as Ruth Marie Terry and her killer as Guy Rockwell Moldavin. It highlights the case's impact on cold case solving and the emotional toll on the victim's family.

As heard by us

A half-century cold case finally closes, with clear forensic milestones and some brisk pacing.

The episode follows the Lady of the Dunes from the 1974 discovery at Race Point Dunes to the 2023 answer that finally closed the case. It stays mostly chronological, which helps, because the story moves through exhumation, DNA comparison, a 2010 CT scan, and the theories that…

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Why you'd press play

You want Lady of the Dunes from the 1974 discovery to the 2023 close, all the way through.

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