Ruth Hoffman

My Story-- by Debbie Hall

Ruth Hoffman claimed she was raped on June 30, 1986. Her daughter, Debbie, reported her mother missing the same day.


On July 29, 1986, Mom had an appointment for a job interview [at a bar] in River Rouge, Michigan. Despite the fact that she was beautiful and a gifted musician and singer it was not easy for Mom to find work. In 1983, she had been diagnosed with a chemical imbalance in the brain and placed on medication to control schizophrenia. As long as she took her medication and lived a structured life, she did quite well, but potential employers didn't always understand that.

So she was very excited about this promising new job interview that day. At 11 p.m. when she wasn't home yet, I called the bar to see if she was still there. They said she had left an hour ago. When it got to be 2 a.m. and she still wasn't home, I started calling hospitals and the local police station. I stayed up all night pacing the floor.


As she left the apartment she told me, "Those bastards won't get away with this." That was the last time I ever saw my Mom.
Bruised And Battered Victim Disappears

An artist painted this rendition of Debbie and her mother when she was a child. Debbie has few pictures of her mother and herself together.

The next morning a yellow cab pulled up in front of our apartment. When I saw my Mom was in it, I gave a huge sigh of relief. However, when she got out of the cab, I saw she was wearing hospital scrubs and was so bruised and battered that it looked like she'd been in a car wreck. She was shaking and crying hysterically and told me that she had been raped and beaten. She said the owner of the bar had promised her the job and began flirting with her. He and a friend told her "let's have some fun" and my mom told them to take their hands off of her. Then they began hitting her and knocked her down to the floor. She said they took turns raping her for hours.

After my Mom took her bath, she put her makeup on and got dressed. I asked her where she was going and she just said for a walk. As she left the apartment she told me, "Those bastards won't get away with this." That was the last time I ever saw my mom.


Determined Daughter Will Not Lose Hope

This sketch shows Ruth as she may look at age 64.


Today Mom would be 64. I'm sure wherever my Mom is she remembers only fragments of her past. But I haven't forgotten a thing.

I am my Mom's only child and her loss leaves a big black hole in my life. The last I learned of my Mom was that she received a traffic ticket on October 4, 1986, in Belleville, Michigan for making an improper turn and driving with an expired license. She was using the name "Ruth Sharon Russie." By the time we could follow up on the address of the ticket Mom was gone.

I will never stop looking for her, and, when I find her, I will make sure that somebody pays for this terrible injustice.




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