The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed Dede Evavold’s criminal conviction for her role in the disappearance of Samantha and Gianna Rucki, who were abducted by their mother near their home in Lakeville, Minnesota on April 19, 2013, during a custody and divorce dispute involving their parents – Sandra Grazzini-Rucki and David Rucki.
Evavold was convicted on September 29, 2016, of six felony counts of deprivation of parental rights related to the disappearance the girls.
In the hours after the Rucki sisters vanished, it was Evavold who connected Grazzini-Rucki with Doug and Gina Dahlen, who owned the ranch where the Rucki sisters were found on November 18, 2015 – 944 days after they disappeared. The girls were found living on the Dahlens’ ranch in Herman, Minnesota by law enforcement, headed by the Lakeville Police Department.
Evavold is not an attorney, but she represented herself in her criminal trial. She filed a pro se appeal of her criminal conviction on February 7, 2017.
New criminal charges filed against Evavold
Evavold will be arraigned tomorrow on three criminal counts of violating a Harassment Restraining Order granted by a court in Dakota County to protect David Rucki and his family from Evavold’s continued harassment.
Evavold is scheduled to appear at the Dakota County Western Service Center in Apple Valley at 9:00 AM.
She has been charged with three misdemeanors and if convicted, Evavold could be sentenced up to 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine on each charge.
In July a judge in Dakota County found that “an immediate and present danger of harassment” by Evavold existed to warrant the granting of a Harassment Restraining Order (HRO) requested by David Rucki and his daughter, Samantha Rucki, against Evavold.
The HRO requested by David Rucki and Samantha Rucki also protects Gianna Rucki and two other minor Rucki children from being harassed by Evavold.
Since the HRO was granted, Evavold has repeatedly violated the conditions of the HRO with her continuous harassment and threatening behavior toward the Rucki family.
Below is the unpublished opinion released this morning from the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirming Evavold’s criminal conviction.
