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German family hunts for missing Campbell River woman

Ruth would be 78 years old, but her family doesn’t know if she’s even still alive
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This old photograph of Ruth, whose last name was Ballantyne at one point but was born Milter, is one of very few her family has of her. They are looking for her from Germany and have pegged down her last known address to Gordon Road in Campbell River.

A woman in Germany is looking for a long-lost relative who she says emigrated to Campbell River in 1952.

Sarah Kluth contacted the Mirror earlier this week asking for advice on how she could go about finding her great-aunt Ruth.

“My family and I would just like to know if she’s still alive,” Kluth says. “I’ve called the town to see if I could get any information. They recommended Canada 411, where I couldn’t find anything.”

Kluth says Ruth used to stay in contact with her family back in Germany – even making multiple trips home – but then in the 1990s, that suddenly stopped.

“The last time she was in Germany was when her mother died in the 90s,” Kluth says. “Since then there was no answer to any kind of making contact anymore. In the beginning my grandparents were not really bothering but somehow over the years the interest became stronger and stronger. So they asked me if I had an idea, and I contacted you.”

Ruth’s last known physical address is on Gordon Road. Kluth also has a last-known phone number for Ruth, but it is out of service.

Another complication, Kluth says, is that Ruth was married twice, changing her last name to Ballantyne at some point, “but I don’t know if Ballantyne was the last name of the first or second husband,” she says.

Ruth was born as Ruth Milter – the daughter of Karin Hensel and Uwe Milter – on April 18, 1935 in Hannover, Germany, which would make her 82 years old today. The family believes she may have been a nurse here in Canada, but they aren’t sure.

Anyone with any possible information can contact Kluth at kluth.sa@gmail.com

Editor’s note: a previous version of this story said Ruth would be 78 today, when she would actually be 82.