Ruth Clarke, 83, disappeared from her west Edmonton home in early November 1990. Friends and family last had contact with her on November 1, and a welfare check at the house she shared with her 42-year-old son, Ronald Clarke, on November 12 found her gone. Her glasses and cane were left behind, and police described the circumstances as suspicious.

Investigators treated the case as a homicide and pursued interviews and searches over the years but never located her or her remains. Police have said they have a suspect in mind and do not believe the death was random, but no charges were ever laid. More recently investigators narrowed a search area to a rural location less than an hour north of St. Albert, focusing on a farmstead with trails to two old hand-dug wells about 50 to 60 feet deep, one lined with wood and the other with brick; neither has produced remains.

Anyone with information about Ruth, the west Edmonton home she lived in, or rural properties north of St. Albert with old wells is asked to come forward.