Nancy Ann Theobald: Cincinnati 1977- Unsolved

   

   Nancy Theobald was a freshman at the University of Cincinnati. She was known as a good student and had even studied as an exchange student in France. She lived in an apartment with her older brother and sister. 

   On Thursday, November 16th 1977, Nancy vanished on her short walk home from her job at Arby’s at 263 Calhoun Street, in the Clifton area. She was last seen about 10:50 p.m. 

  Nancy was not known to just take off.  She kept a very regular routine. She was a serious student. 

   Her parents and siblings knew that she would not just run away and take nothing with her. Multiple searches were conducted. All of this was taking place during the media frenzy surrounding the arrest of serial rapist and murderer, Larry Ralston. Her family was probably already imagining the worst. 

   Nancy was 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighed approximately 105 lbs. She had medium length brown hair. She was a petite young woman.  She might have appeared quite a bit younger to a predator. 

   In late December of 1977,  her body was found fully clothed by a farmer, Clyde Rupp,in a creek bed a mile west of 6050 Beckett Road in Union Township near West Chester.  A rope was tied around the neck. Dental records were used to confirm her identity.  

  That’s quite a distance from Cincinnati. 

  This abduction and murder could not be the work of serial killer Larry Ralston. Although he was actively abducting, raping and killing young women and girls in the Cincinnati area from roughly 1975-1977.  He was arrested on November 15th, 1977 and eventually convicted of the murders of Elaina Marie Bear, Diane McCrobie, Linda Harmon, Nancy Grigsby, and Mary Ruth Hopkins. He was arrested in a Chicago suburb one day before Nancy disappeared.  He had fled to his sister’s home as police were investigating him. 

   Eugene William Gall seems like a logical suspect here. He was a serial rapist. He was sent to jail in 1970 for several charges including 4 charges of rape. He was supposed to serve a maximum of 26 years. He appealed his conviction and was paroled on April 12th 1977. He lived in Hillsboro then. Hillsboro is a short drive east of Dayton and Cincinnati. 

   He abducted, raped and murdered Beth Ann Mote in October of 1977 and Lisa Jansen on April 5th of 1978.  Both girls were taken while on their way to school. Beth Ann Mote was taken from Dayton and killed with a knife.  Lisa Jansen was taken from Cincinnati and taken to Kentucky and was shot. Gall was caught after an armed robbery and shootout with police in Kentucky. It’s hard to imagine that he just sat at home and did nothing from October to April. 

   Gall was accused of other crimes as well. In the early morning hours of April 3rd 1978 in Beaver Creek, Ohio, (a community southeast of Dayton) a group of children were waiting for their school bus. A man ran at them with a gun and forced them into one of their homes. He tied up the Mother and the children in separate rooms.  He raped the two thirteen year old girls.  He stole cash from a handbag. When the news of Lisa Jansen’s murder and Eugene William Gall’s arrest came out; those children and that Mother all identified him as their attacker. 

   I hope that evidence can be tested and a perpetrator identified in Nancy’s case. Her family and friends deserve closure. 

  Eugene William Gall Jr. is definitely someone they should look at. He attacked younger female victims but Nancy was petite and may have looked younger to him. He may also have chosen victims that he thought he could over power. Not necessarily young but small or frailer looking to him. 

   Another possible suspect is Ralph Howell.  In 2022 DNA connected him to the murder of Cheryl Thompson on March 3rd 1978. Even though Ralph Howell had died in a car accident in 1985; investigators exhumed his body to obtain a DNA sample.  He had come to the attention of the police after he attempted to abduct a woman in 1983. She escaped and told police of her ordeal. Howell was arrested and charged in this attempted abduction in which he put a rope around this woman's neck.  

   I think Ralph Howell and Eugene William Gall Jr. are definitely suspects that investigators should be looking at in Nancy Theobald's case.  

  If you have information about Nancy’s murder please submit a tip at this website. 

https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Law-Enforcement/Investigator/Cold-Case/Homicides/Theobald

   

   Nancy Theobald’s murder has never been solved. Rest in peace, Nancy. You can listen to this post and share it on YouTube with this link: https://youtu.be/z-6O6n9ZmHQ?si=r_NQRE1DbI5hOeIj