Vigil being held for victim of abduction cold case

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office says a vigil will be held Tuesday to bring awareness to a cold case.

Ruth Haut was abducted and killed nearly 27 years ago.

“It’s like an open wound. You just pour salt in it – you know,” said her partner Jean Wagner.

Wagner says on the night of February 26, 1992, Haut never returned home from work. 

So, Wagner went to her office on John Young Parkway in Kissimmee, where she worked as a chiropractor, to look for her.

“I panicked. I saw the line cut. The door was open. She wasn’t there,” Wagner said.

Investigators say the 41-year-old had been taken.

They say someone then traveled to Vero Beach with her ATM card and withdrew money from her account. 

Haut was later found stabbed to death in an orange grove in St. Cloud.

Haut’s nephew, Stephen Madonna, has been posting online about the case.

“I’ve been doing social media – Facebook and Twitter – trying to get the word out about her crime and how it remains unsolved,” Madonna said.

Loved ones will be at the vigil this week, along with investigators to mark 27 years since she was abducted. 

They plan to remember her and remind the community that her killer hasn’t been identified.

“Someone is out there that knows something. I think it’s something really small and we’re overlooking it,” Wagner said. “I just want help and I want justice, and I want the person behind bars.”

This vigil will be held on Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 22 North John Young Parkway in Kissimmee. 

There’s a $5,000 reward for information on the case.