‘Finally at peace’: Family of woman identified after nearly 40 years gathers at newly installed grave marker

For nearly 40 years, Ruth Belle Waymire’s remains were buried in an unmarked grave at Fairmount Memorial Park.

The remains were unidentified until March 2023, when investigators used genetic genealogy to determine they were Waymire’s. No one had heard from her since 1984.

On Friday, three of Waymire’s cousins, who had never met the former Rogers High School student, linked arms and shed tears at her new grave marker. A community member who did not know Waymire learned of her story and led the fundraising effort to purchase the cemetery marker, which was unveiled Friday.

“It’s comforting to know that she is finally at peace, that she has her birth name and that she knows that there are family members that love her,” said JulieAnn Rau, Waymire’s second cousin.

For decades her lack of identity haunted the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office and Spokane police detectives.

Two fishermen discovered a 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 and was buried at Fairmount on Sept. 18, 1984.

Then in April 1998, a skull was found in a vacant lot at Seventh Avenue and Sherman Street. Tips and leads poured in after the discovery, but nothing panned out.

Without the woman’s real name, police dubbed her “Millie” after Spokane police Detective Don Giese’s daughter told her father that “no one deserves to not have a name.”

Three years later, through then-cutting edge DNA technology, the skull was matched to the torso found in 1984. The DNA was uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System, but it didn’t find a match.

When genetic genealogy helped solve the locally infamous cold case killing of Candy Rogers in 2022, Spokane police Sgt. Zac Storment sent “Millie’s” DNA to Othram Inc. for analysis.

Genetic genealogy uses a special type of DNA analysis to compare unknown DNA profiles to ones in publicly available databases. Then genealogists build family trees from often distant connections, like cousins or uncles, to help identify people.

The genealogy investigation narrowed “Millie’s” identity down to one of two sisters. Investigators were able to find Deborah Waymire living in the Midwest. She provided DNA, which confirmed “Millie” to be Ruth Waymire.

Ruth Waymire also had a half-brother. Her parents are dead.

Waymire’s family, Spokane police and the medical examiner’s office laid an array of flowers at Waymire’s grave on a hot Friday afternoon. The marker, reading

, “RUTH BELLE WAYMIRE, 1960-1984, Always Remembered,” includes a permanent flower vase. Waymire would have been 64 this month.

“It is so beautiful,” said Rau, who has lived in Spokane since 1985.

Franci Lamb, a former Spokane police dispatcher, learned about Waymire through news stories last year and decided she deserved to have a grave marker. She started a GoFundMe account and sold items to raise money.

She said she was extremely thankful for the community’s donations.

“It’s been amazing,” Lamb said.

Storment said he was grateful for Waymire’s family who attended Friday. He also thanked family members who were not there for providing DNA and helping police identify the woman. Without their cooperation, it wouldn’t have happened, he said.

Nicole Hamada, death investigator at the medical examiner’s office, said attaching a name to Waymire’s remains provided some closure.

“When I first started in 2020 in the office, Ruth’s photo has been in my office as a reminder that everyone deserves to have their name back at some point,” Hamada said.

Dr. Veena Singh, chief medical examiner, was also in attendance Friday.

Rau said she can’t thank investigators enough for their persistence after 40 years.

“I wish that I could meet each and every one of them and give them a hug and say thank you for the dedication for not giving up on this beautiful person who unfortunately was taken from us way too soon,” she said.

Police are still looking to solve Waymire’s case, which is being investigated as a homicide.

Investigators ask anyone who has information about Waymire’s death to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

Waymire’s husband at the time of her death was Trampas D.L. Vaughn, police said. Vaughn was born in Iowa and served time in prison there before coming to the Pacific Northwest. He and Waymire were married in Wenatchee.

Vaughn died in 2017 in California. Police have not ruled out Vaughn as a suspect, and no other suspects have been identified. Waymire’s first husband, who lives in Spokane, is cooperating with the investigation, police said.

“I still have hope that we will put the final pieces together on who needs to be held responsible for this,” Storment said. “I think there are people out there that know things that can talk to me about that, and we’ll get there someday.”

S-R reporter Emma Epperly contributed to this report.