Victoria Hinscher:1976, Cincinnati, Ohio

Victoria May Hinscher worked as a waitress at Red Lobster in Roselawn, Ohio. She was born in Miami,Florida on July 23rd 1952. (Her name is spelled Hincher in the newspaper articles and on the Ohio Unsolved Cases website. I am using Hinscher as it is what is on Find a Grave and Ancestry.)

She worked her scheduled shift on October 19th, 1976. She was also scheduled the next day but never showed. Her manager knew this was not like her. He described her as “a good worker, dependable and a very fun young lady”. Victoria would not miss work without calling. She had worked at Red Lobster for about two years.

Red Lobster was a great place to work in the Midwest in 1976. When I was growing up that was the place we always went for my Mom’s birthday in Evansville, Indiana. That was the fancy place to go get a nice dinner.

1976 was a strange year. Our country was celebrating its Bicentennial year. 1776-1976. Everything was red, white and blue. The preferred furniture style in many homes was Early American. I remember lots of Spirit of ‘76 lunchboxes. Amid all this celebration there was a tremendous number of murders. The mid 1970’s was a high point in the terrible arc of serial killer violence. But, no one was talking about it or thinking about it yet. We didn’t have that 24 hour news cycle yet. Even though the 1973 John Wayne Gacy case was in people’s consciousness it really wasn’t until Ted Bundy was convicted and awaiting the death penalty that most Americans knew and used the term serial killer.

In 1976 Victoria Hinscher shared an apartment with a fellow Red Lobster waitress, Robin Cox. The two had roomed together in the suburbs north of Cincinnati for seven months. Robin was also very concerned that Victoria had not come home after October 19th. This was not like her. The two had sometimes had the usual roommate squabbles but they always patched things up and worked well together. Victoria left the apartment on foot on the 19th and planned to spend the night at a friend’s house.

Victoria’s mother reported her missing on the 24th of October, 1976. Agonizing days and nights passed by. The weather was cold and the fear for Victoria was intense.

On October 31st, 1976, Victoria Hinscher was found in a wooded area 30 feet off New London Road in Butler County. That is west of Roselawn and those suburbs north of Cincinnati. A man walking his dog in the area found her.

Victoria’s remains were nude but a pair of jeans, a pair of women’s underwear and a pair of men’s underwear were found nearby.

Her mother was called in to aid investigators in identifying the remains. She did so at 3 a.m. on November 1st, 1976. What a terrible thing for a parent to have to do.

Who did this to Victoria?

It wasn’t Eugene William Gall, Jr. because he wouldn’t be out until April 12th, 1977. Gall served time for a series of rapes, abductions and robberies in and around Lima,Ohio. He was in custody from December 15th 1970 to April 12th, 1977. He should have served decades of his full sentence but found a sympathetic ear and was paroled. He then went on to kill Beth Ann Mote in October of 1977 and Lisa Jansen in April of 1978. He is suspected in other abductions and murders. But Eugene William Gall Jr. wasn’t free when Victoria disappeared.

It very well could be Larry M. Ralston who raped and murdered Victoria Hinscher.

Larry M. Ralston was born on July 5th, 1949 to Kirby and Myrtle Ralston. He attended Lockwood School and later Norwood High School. He should have graduated around 1968 but he quit highschool to join the Army. That was a thing that they let teenagers do in the 1970’s.

In 1975, Ralston was back in Ohio. When exactly he came back to Ohio, I haven’t found yet.

Ralston raped and murdered Linda Kay Harmon in September of 1975. Her skeletal remains were found scattered over a large area by animals.

Linda Kay Harmon,Nancy Grigsby, Mary Ruth Hopkins, Elaina Bear, Diane Sue McCrobie were all murdered by Ralston between September 1976 and July 1977. Each was found raped, strangled and dumped unclothed in a rural area. Some had also been stabbed.

Ralston had given Elaina Bear and a friend a ride home. Elaina was dropped off first. Ralston dropped off the other girl but asked for directions back to Elaina’s place. The friend was able to give testimony that Ralston was looking for Elaina before her disappearance. This proved to be a break in the case.

Victoria Hinscher’s murder occurred during Ralston’s two year murder spree and before he was in custody. She was also found not far from his usual whereabouts. Elaina Bear’s brother was interviewed in 1977 and said that Elaina knew Victoria. Ralston’s victims were usually acquaintances that he met at parties or through other friends. It would not be strange that she might call him for a ride or bump into him at a friend’s house.

Larry M. Ralston is currently serving a life sentence in Ohio as I write this in June of 2025. He’s up for parole in 2028. Let’s hope that he never gets out.

Another possible suspect is Ralph Howell. D.N.A has recently linked him to the murder of Cheryl Thompson.

Victoria Hinscher’s case is currently unsolved. Did investigators save the clothing found near her body? Did they scrape under her nails or clip her nails and save those clippings? Is there evidence that can still be tested? If investigators needed to exhume her according to Find a Grave, she is buried here: