Tomorrow, March 29, 2019, at 10 PM (CST), The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) will be broadcasting the episode of ABC’s “20/20” discussed in the new best-selling true crime book, The Girls Are Gone.
The episode about Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, called “Footprints in the Snow” was first broadcast on April 8, 2016, and was later rebroadcast on March 25, 2017. The episode has since been rebroadcast on multiple television networks in the last two years.
Grazzini-Rucki had tried to stop the rebroadcasts of the episode which found no documentation to verify Grazzini-Rucki’s claim that she was abused by David Rucki. Grazzini-Rucki had taken to Facebook, calling the show “rank propaganda” and encouraging people to register complaints.
In April 2017, Grazzini-Rucki announced she would be filing a defamation lawsuit against ABC, Inc, ABC’s “20/20”, and Elizabeth Vargas, the co-anchor of “20/20”. Grazzini-Rucki claimed she would be seeking “an ungodly amount” of money in her latest lawsuit, but the lawsuit was never filed.
Grazzini-Rucki caught lying on “20/20”
During “Footprints in the Snow”, Vargas confronted Grazzini-Rucki about her pattern of lying, specifically about her claim that she hadn’t seen her daughters in years.
“Well, all I’m telling you is you sat right here and spent half an hour telling me you hadn’t seen or spoken to your daughters. And I’ve now spoken to three people who tell us, in fact, that’s a lie. So if you were lying to me about that, what else might you be lying to me about?“
Vargas was correct to confront Grazzini-Rucki about her extensive record of lying and making false allegations.
During her criminal trial, Grazzini-Rucki testified that she had been repeatedly “dishonest” when she previously testified under oath in her divorce and custody proceeding with her ex-husband, David Rucki.
Since being convicted in July 2016 on six felony counts of deprivation of parental rights, Grazzini-Rucki, and her supporters have continued their behavior of making false allegations against David Rucki, his family, the media, law enforcement, and the judiciary.
A page was published on Missing in Minnesota to provide verifiable facts and primary source documents to refute false statements and fabricated incidents made by Grazzini-Rucki and her supporters.
“20/20” episode discussed in the new best-selling true crime book
Grazzini-Rucki’s appearance on “20/20” is discussed along with her involvement in the disappearance of her daughters Samantha and Gianna Rucki is examined in the new book, The Girls Are Gone.
The book details the events which led to Grazzini-Rucki abducting her daughters on April 19, 2013, during a custody dispute with her ex-husband, 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.
Since being released last October, The Girls Are Gone has been a commercial and critical success. The Kindle Edition of The Girls Are Gone has appeared on multiple “best seller” lists by Amazon. The Girls Are Gone is published by Wise Ink Creative Publishing.
Brodkorb and Mann have appeared at over 20 events for their book in the last few months and more book events in Minnesota and other states will be announced in the next few weeks.
Allison Mann contributed to this story.
