Ruth Marie Severance NamUs #MP18953 - Missing person notes

By: Shane Lambert

I had a look at the case of Ruth Marie Severance tonight (may be called Ruth Marie Jones-Severance). She's someone that has been missing since December 11th, 1982 from Houston, Texas. Her missing-person profile at NamUs does not offer a ton of information. However, here are the details provided:

• 24 years old as of December 11th, 1982
• Only 4'10"
• 110 lbs
• White/Caucasian
• Google Map's last-known location: 29°45'37.5"N 95°22'11.3"W
• Blond/strawberry hair
• Hazel eyes
• Clothing: green and white jacket, navy-blue shirt, and blue jeans

Regarding the circumstances of her disappearance, the NamUs profile leaves a lot to be desired. I had a look through an online newspaper database in search of details for her case for Websleuths and others interested in this case. Here is a summary of what I found (from Feb 9th, 1983 Victoria Advocate).

• The last person to see her was her ex-husband
• The ex-husband was named Pete Severance, 32 years old at the time of Ruth's disappearance
• They were arguing at the time of her disappearance and often fought over custody of their one child
• The detective in the case in 1983 believed foul play was involved
• Ruth left Pete's car while the two drove together to do some Christmas shopping
• A close friend of Ruth's was who reported her missing on December 12th of 1982
• Pete Severance was questioned by police
• The detective on the case, JC Mosier, claimed that Pete had scratches under his eyes and a black eye
• Mosier claimed that Pete claimed that Ruth gave him the wounds
• Pete declined a polygraph

There were not a lot of newspaper articles on this case, at least not in the resources I consult.

Food for thought

• Women that go missing after a fight with their boyfriends/husbands are definitely not always disappeared by the boyfriends, or ex-boyfriends/ex-husbands. Kelly Disney's missing person's case is an interesting one to compare. She went missing after an argument with her boyfriend but appears to have been disappeared by someone else. It's important not to get tunnel vision but to see all angles.
• Pete Severance is described as a salesman for a hole-digging company in the one newspaper article I found