Motherless man’s search for answers ends with gruesome beach town discovery

Richard Hanchett had been searching for his birth mother for years when he suddenly received a phone call from the FBI.

“The first thing they said to me was, 'Have you heard of The Lady of Dune?'” he recalled to Fox News Digital. “I hadn't heard anything about it…It's been an incredible journey since then.”

In 1974, a 37-year-old woman died from what authorities concluded was blunt force trauma to her skull. Her dismembered body was discovered on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a popular vacation spot. The unidentified woman became known as the “Lady of the Dunes.”

Massachusetts man's deathbed confession shocks family after decades on the run: “It wasn't some weird dad joke''

The case, frozen for nearly 50 years, is the subject of Oxygen's new true-crime documentary series, “The Lady of the Dunes: The Hunt for the Cape Cod Killer.” Mr. Hanchett has also written a memoir, “Through His Eyes,'' which will be published in December.

It wasn't until October 2022 that police made a breakthrough in the decades-long investigation. The woman found in the dunes of Provincetown was Ruth Marie Terry from Tennessee. She was Hanchett's biological mother.

“The Lady of the Dunes: The Hunt for the Cape Cod Murderer” explores a decades-long case that shook Massachusetts. (oxygen)

Hanchett said he had recurring nightmares about his mother for about three weeks before getting the call from the FBI.

Richard Hanchett as a child growing up in Michigan. (Richard Hanchett & Left/Right Productions/Oxygen)

“I kept dreaming about a guy who hit a woman in the back of the head and crushed her skull,” he said. “When I got the news from the police, I put two and two together…I felt in my heart that she had seen something she shouldn't have seen…The nightmares kept repeating. Ta.”

“I didn't want to look at the pictures because I knew it would be a nightmare,” he added.

Meredith Lorber, a former detective with the Provincetown Police Department, spoke about her frustrations with investigating cold cases. (Left/Right Production/Oxygen)

Shortly after his son was born in 1958, Terry was struggling with financial difficulties when he handed him over to the Hanchett family in Michigan. For years, Terry has longed to be reunited with her. A DNA test in 2018 revealed a connection to the Terry family. Through them, he learned that she had disappeared and is still missing.

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A family photo of Ruth Marie Terry, who was brutally murdered in July 1974. She became known as “The Lady of the Dunes.” (Left/Right Production/Oxygen)

Terry married Guy Muldavin in 1974, several months before her body was discovered.

Cape Islands District Attorney Robert Garibois previously said in a statement: “When Mr. Muldavin returned from his trip, he drove what appeared to be Terry's car and indicated to witnesses that Terry was deceased.” said. “Terry was never seen by his family again.”

Hanchett said Terry's family had suspicions about Mardavin.

Ruth Marie Terry married Guy Muldavin several months before her murder. (Left/Right Production/Oxygen)

“When I first met my family, my cousin told me about this guy. I later found out he was sick,” Hanchett said.

According to the documentary, Maldavin had written a book called Cooking with Lamp Oil, which featured disturbing illustrations. One of the so-called recipes, “Cape Cod Sid,” seemed to allude to a crime. It also included a character with auburn hair similar to Terry.

This book was published two years after Terry's murder.

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Massachusetts State Police Chief James Meese holds the skull of an unidentified murder victim and a drawing by Texas forensic scientist Mary Meese. Meads devoted much of his career to uncovering the murderer of the Lady of Dune. (Left/Right Production/Oxygen)

Once Terry was identified by police, the focus shifted to antiques dealer Mardavin. He was also the prime suspect in the deaths of another wife and stepdaughter in Seattle in the 1960s. According to newspaper reports at the time, human bones were found in the septic tank of his home. He was arrested in New York City and charged with “unlawful flight.”

“Everywhere he lived, someone died,” Hanchett said.

Mardavin died in 2002 at the age of 78.

When Terry's body was discovered decades ago, her hand was severed and she was lying naked on a beach blanket. She was almost decapitated. Authorities believed she had been murdered weeks before her body was discovered.

Color composition of Lady of the Dunes. (Left/Right Production/Oxygen)

Authorities have previously attempted to identify her by exhuming her body, reconstructing her face using a clay model, and releasing an age regression map of her face. She was identified using Investigative Genealogy, which is the use of DNA analysis combined with traditional genealogy research and historical records. Investigators also learned that Terry had ties to Michigan and California, where Mardavin lived.

In 2023, Massachusetts authorities concluded that Terry was murdered by her husband. The incident was resolved.

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Research genealogy was used to determine the identity of Ruth Marie Terry. (Pat Greenhouse/Boston Globe via Getty Images)

“The only question that wasn't answered was why,” Hanchett explained. “I feel like many times she saw things she shouldn't have seen… She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And everything she learned about Guy… It taught me that he wasn't a good person. He was a criminal.'' It wasn't new to him that he killed people before my mother. ”

Hanchett said she spoke out today because she wanted to clear up misconceptions about her late mother, which she said still persist.

“They say she was a prostitute, but she was not a prostitute,” Hanchett stressed. “She was a mother, a sister, an aunt. She was a beautiful person. What happened to her was not something she deserved. She was poor and worked all her life to get ahead. I worked hard. It took me a long time. Please understand that she made the right decision for me. She is many years ahead of me and the right thing to do at that age. It was stronger than it was.”

Massachusetts authorities have concluded that Ruth Marie Terry was murdered by her husband, Guy Muldavin. Her son Richard Hanchett (pictured) wished Mardavin was still alive so he could “feel justice”. (oxygen)

“I wish I could have met her,” he said quietly. “I wanted to give her respect and dignity back.”

Asked if justice would be served, Hanchett said, “I think it will be.”

“What I'm saying is it could have been resolved a long time ago — it should have been resolved a long time ago,” he said. “That's what bothers me. My life would have been completely different. It wouldn't have changed what happened to her, but after all these years, I wonder if she's still alive.” I didn't know. My father, my uncles, my aunts, my grandfather, they're all wondering what happened to her. ”

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Former Provincetown Police Chief Warren Tobias also worked to solve the case. (Left/Right Production/Oxygen)

“I'm grateful that we were finally able to close this case, but deep down I'm upset because… this case could have been solved a long time ago. Do you feel like justice was served? I've never heard of anyone being convicted.''I wish he was still alive to feel justice after they died. mosquito? ”

About two weeks ago, Hanchett traveled to Provincetown to place a stone on his mother's grave.

Ruth Marie Terry's grave in Massachusetts. (John Turmacchi/Boston Globe via Getty Images)

“For nearly 50 years, I wondered who my mother was,” he said. “It was surreal standing right next to her grave. I couldn't believe I was finally there with her.”