Ruth Waymire

Ruth Belle Waymire (April 16, 1960 – ), formerly known as Millie Doe, was a formerly unidentified female murder victim whose dismembered body was found in Spokane, Washington, in 1984. Her body was recovered from the Spokane River on June 20, 1984, and was missing the hands, feet, and head. Deborah has described her relationship with Ruth growing up as "real close", with Ruth having been a protector figure in Deborah's life. and the T. J. Meenach Bridge by two young fishermen. The victim, who would come to be known as "Millie", Ruth's body showed clear signs of sexual assault with a blunt object to both the vaginal and rectal cavities, indicated by a bruise on the vaginal area and a tear in the rectum. The body of Debbi Finnern, a local woman who had also been murdered, was found in close proximity to Millie's body only a few days apart, and is often mentioned in conjunction with Millie's case; however, they have never been considered related. brought home a decomposing, severed human hand, The hand was also lost during the process of testing, eliminating the possibility of reexamining it.

Discovery and investigation of the skull On 19 April 1998, at approximately 7 in the evening, a local resident of Spokane was walking her dog near a vacant lot at the corner of Seventh and Sherman street. The resident saw what appeared to be a human skull among debris at the bottom of an embankment at the northwest corner of the lot. Initially, investigators were unsure if the church had housed a cemetery, and if the skull could potentially belong to a body interred there. The area of the lot where the skull had been recovered had last been cleared in the fall of 1997. Geise was to transport the skull from where it was being held to a forensic anthropologist in western Washington, and was accompanied on this task by his fifth-grade daughter. Waymire's identity was confirmed 17 February 2023 and released to the public on 29 March 2023. She was a graduate of Rogers High School and spent time in Wenatchee as well as Spokane. Waymire's parents divorced when she was a child and she, her sister, and their mother moved in with a local family in Spokane. However, her mother died shortly thereafter. Waymire and her sister eventually became estranged and never re-established contact again. She was never reported missing and was described as having led a transient lifestyle.

Waymire was married to her second husband, Trampas D.L. Vaughn (1945–2017) at the time of her murder. Vaughn was born in Iowa and spent time in prison there before marrying Waymire in Wenatchee. Vaughn died in Sutter County, California in 2017. The Spokane Police Department consider him a suspect in his wife's murder due to the fact that he never reported her missing. No other suspects have been considered, including Waymire's first husband who is cooperating with the investigation. Spokane Police and investigators with the Medical Examiner's Office are also seeking information on Waymire's child or children due to her autopsy revealing she had a child roughly a year or two before her murder.