Larry Ralston : Serial Killer : Ohio

  

Also Larry Ralston 

   Linda Dyer was 15. She lived at 1720 Waltham Avenue, North College Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio. But, in the weeks before her death she was living at her friend Ernestine’s house. 

  On August 21st 1976 Linda wanted to go to a party but Ernestine didn’t feel like going.  Linda went anyway and later left the party alone. She hitched a ride. 

  She was found stabbed and strangled three days later northwest of Cincinnati in rural Colerain Township on August 24th, 1976. Dental records and an X-ray of her skull helped identify her remains. 

  Before her remains could be identified; Dorothy Sullivan’s body was found. A month earlier, the body of Mary Ruth Hopkins had been discovered. All three girls were found nude, stabbed and strangled. 

  Parents of missing girls were calling, asking to see remains to try to identify their daughters. They were doing everything they could to convince police that these murders were related. 

  Linda Kay Harmon went missing on September 3rd, 1976. She was found three days later on September 6th, 1976 when a farmer’s dog brought a human arm home in its mouth. Deputies found Linda’s remains scattered over a wooded overgrown hillside. 

  Abductions and rapes were still happening. Many young women and girls were simply considered runaways. Some victims, luckily, survived their attacks. 

  Stories in the newspapers blamed the victims for being too free, too independent. They also blamed the murder problem on marijuana.  But, marijuana can’t drive a car, lift a knife, abduct, rape and murder a person.  The blame is on the murderer. The blame is always and only on the murderer. 

  October 20th Victoria Hinscher (spelled Hincher in newspaper articles) was abducted, raped and strangled. (Her case has since been linked to Ralph Richard Howell, another Ohio serial killer.)

  Two bodies were found close together in Kentucky not far from Cincinnati. Carol Sue Klaber and another unidentified young woman. Carol Klaber’s murder would be solved in 2023 through DNA testing. Thomas W. Dunaway was 19 when he raped, strangled and beat her to death. I haven’t yet found if the unidentified woman was ever finally named.

   Nancy Grigsby had been missing since May of 1976.  Her skeletal remains were found in November of 1976. 

   Elaina Bear went missing in January of 1977. Her body was found February 28th, 1977. She and a friend had accepted a ride from a man named Larry Ralston. He had dropped Elaina off and then her friend. But he asked where Elaina lived in relation to where he had left her. When Elaina disappeared her friend relayed this story to police. She had the feeling he may have doubled back. 

   Diane Sue McCrobie went missing in July of 1977 and her remains were found in November of 1977. She had an address book and one particular name stood out: Larry Ralston.

   Three different young women had been together on September 24th, 1977 when they accepted a ride from a man. He instead abducted, raped and nearly killed all three but they survived. They knew his name was Larry. They pointed out a house he had stopped at and the place where the attack took place. A photo lineup was shown to the three young women and they all pointed to Larry Ralston.

   Larry Ralston was chronically unemployed and always on the move. (I did read one online post that claimed he worked at one time for the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office/Morgue and possibly the old State Hospital in downtown Cincinnati.) He had a lengthy criminal record. 

   Larry Ralston was arrested on November 15th 1977 after he had fled to his sister’s house in a suburb of Chicago. He was brought back to Cincinnati as the case against him developed. 

   Eventually he was convicted of the murder of Elaina Bear in May of 1978. He received a death sentence but it was commuted to life in prison. On July 6th 1978 he was convicted of the murder of Diane McCrobie. He again received a life sentence. On August 2nd 1978 he was convicted of the murder of Linda Harmon. This conviction also brought a sentence of life in prison. On August 24th he was convicted of the murder of Nancy Grigsby and was again sentenced to life. He was also convicted of two counts of rape. 

   In 1979 his conviction in Nancy Grigsby’s murder was overturned because the prosecution did not adequately establish a cause of death. 

   In 1984 he was convicted of the murder of Mary Ruth Hopkins. He received another life sentence. 

   He is still in prison as of 2024. He continues to appeal and to try for parole. 

   But what about Linda Dyer? What about Dorothy Sullivan? What about Victoria Hincher? There may be many other victims as some were dismissed as runaways. There may be bodies out there that simply haven’t been found. 

  Ralston did not have a job. Yet, he was driving around an awful lot. How was he financing that? I bet he could be linked to quite a few burglaries or armed robberies. Did pawn shops keep good records of who pawned items in the mid 1970’s? Are there are number of unsolved armed robberies? The statute of limitations has probably run out on those.  But, tracking that might give investigators a timeline of Ralston’s whereabouts.