Category David Rucki

ABC’s ’20/20′ episode: Four years later

On April 8, 2016, ABC’s “20/20” first broadcast “Footprints in the Snow” which focused on the disappearance of Samantha and Gianna Rucki. The sisters were taken by their mother near their home on the night of April 19, 2013, during a custody and divorce dispute involving their parents – Sandra Grazzini-Rucki and David Rucki.

In March 2017, ABC aired an updated “Footprints in the Snow” with new information about the case and the program has been rebroadcast multiple times since 2016.  Today – nearly four years after the original broadcast – many of the individuals interviewed remain entangled in the case of the sisters who went missing and were later found by law enforcement. Continue reading

Court grants 50-year restraining order against Dede Evavold

A judge in Dakota County granted a 50-year extension on the Harassment Restraining Order (HRO) requested by David Rucki and his daughter, Samantha Rucki, against Dede Evavold. The extension was granted at a hearing this morning at the Dakota County Western Service Center in Apple Valley, Minnesota.

The HRO against Evavold remains in effect until September 9, 2069.

Evavold was convicted in September 2016 of six felonies for her role in the disappearance of Samantha Rucki and her sister Gianna, who were abducted near their home in Lakeville, Minnesota by their mother Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, during a custody and divorce proceeding. Continue reading

Court: Grazzini-Rucki is ‘voluntarily unemployed’ and can pay child support

The Minnesota Court of Appeals released an opinion this week affirming previous court orders which determined that Sandra Grazzini-Rucki is “voluntarily unemployed” and she can pay $215 per month to support her minor children. Grazzini-Rucki had appealed multiple court orders from 2018 involving the divorce proceedings with her ex-husband, David Rucki.

Grazzini-Rucki was convicted in 2016 on six counts of deprivation of parental rights for her role in the disappearance of her daughters – Samantha and Gianna Rucki. Grazzini-Rucki hasn’t made any child support payments since 2015 to support her other minor children.

The opinion released Monday from the Minnesota Court of Appeals highlighted what other courts have documented: Grazzini-Rucki doesn’t follow court orders, she “wrongfully disseminating [David Rucki’s] financial information,” and she committed “fraud” in other court proceedings.

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Grazzini-Rucki critical of proclamation designating April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month

Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, who was convicted last year on six felony counts related to the disappearance of her daughters, strongly criticized the proclamation designating April 2017 as National Child Abuse Prevention Month by President Donald Trump.

In violation of a court order, Samantha and Gianna Rucki were taken by their mother near their home on the night of April 19, 2013, during a custody and divorce dispute involving their parents – Grazzini-Rucki and David Rucki.

On November 18, 2015 – 944 days after they disappeared – the girls were found living on a ranch in northern Minnesota by law enforcement, headed by the Lakeville Police Department.

Grazzini-Rucki critical that Trump’s proclamation honored child protective workers, law enforcement officials

In his proclamation issued on March 31, 2017, Trump listed groups of professionals “whose tireless work every day protects children”:

“We also honor foster and adoptive parents, child protective workers, faith leaders, community mentors, teachers, and law enforcement officials, whose tireless work every day protects children who have been tragically abused or neglected. Their often thankless service in these difficult and painful situations helps restore the safety and dignity of these wounded children and, in many cases, dramatically improves the course of their precious lives. As a Nation, we pledge to honor our commitment to protecting the vulnerable among us, not just this month, but every day of the year.”

After reading Trump’s entire proclamation during her interview, Grazzini-Rucki said the groups recognized by Trump “have single-handedly destroyed our children, and the future of America”:

“I think it is our obligation to inform our president, who I believe can make some changes, that all these people that he is giving credit to don’t deserve the credit and in fact, expect for a very few individuals… they’ve done nothing but harm children more, and I’m including CPS, foster parents, government workers, police departments, lawyers and judges. They have single-handedly destroyed our children, and the future of America.”

April has been designated National Child Abuse Prevention Month by every president since 1983.  Continue reading