On June 30, 1976, 21-year-old white female Mary Ruth Hopkins, a resident of the East End neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, was found dead in a secluded area near Five Mile Road in Anderson Township. Her body was discovered nude, with visible signs of violence. Her face had been severely bruised, some of her hair had been torn out, and a tank top was tightly wrapped around her neck, indicating she had been strangled. The brutality of the crime shocked the local community and prompted an intensive investigation.
Mary Ruth Hopkins, born on February 26, 1955, was the daughter of Lonnie Sanders and Jacqueline Taylor. She was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Southgate, Kentucky. At the time of her death, she was known to be living in the East End area of Cincinnati, a detail that helped investigators narrow down potential leads.
The investigation into the murder of 21-year-old white female Mary Ruth Hopkins eventually led to the arrest of 28-year-old Larry Ralston, a Norwood High School dropout who had previously worked at the Hamilton County morgue and a state mental hospital. Ralston was apprehended in November 1977 after being charged with the rape of three teenage girls. During transport to Clermont County, he unexpectedly confessed to multiple murders, including that of Mary Ruth Hopkins. His confessions came as a surprise to investigators, as he had not been previously suspected in any homicides.
Ralston's admissions linked him to a series of killings that had occurred between 1975 and 1977 in the Ohio area. He ultimately confessed to the murders of five young women, including 21-year-old white female Mary Ruth Hopkins. The victims shared similar profiles—young, female, and often found in remote or wooded areas. Ralston was sentenced to four life terms in prison in 1978, with an additional life sentence added in 1984 after one of his original convictions was overturned.
The case of 21-year-old white female Mary Ruth Hopkins remains one of the most chilling examples of serial violence in the Cincinnati area during the 1970s. Her death, along with those of the other victims, brought attention to the dangers faced by young women and the importance of persistent investigative work in solving such heinous crimes. Larry Ralston remains incarcerated, with all parole applications denied to date.
