The online companion to the award-winning true crime book The Girls Are Gone
UPDATE (4:05 PM, Tuesday, September 4, 2018) – Tomorrow’s court hearing has been canceled. It will be rescheduled after Dede Evavold’s upcoming criminal trial on October 15, 2018, for violations of an HRO granted to protect David Rucki and his family from Evavold’s harassment. Continue reading
Judge Karen Asphaug heard arguments in a Dakota County courtroom today regarding the Rule 11 Motion for Sanctions filed against Michelle MacDonald in response to her lawsuit against Michael Brodkorb and Missing in Minnesota.
Judge Asphaug said she would be making a decision before our hearing on September 10 in Ramsey County regarding sanctions against MacDonald.
MacDonald’s attorney, Karlowba R. Adams Powell, made numerous false statements in court today and seemed unfamiliar with the messy procedural history created by MacDonald’s lawsuit. Adams Powell falsely claimed our attorney, Nathan Hansen filed duplicative pleadings in Dakota and Ramsey County. She also claimed Hansen was “harassing” MacDonald and accused him of “unprofessional conduct.”
Hansen corrected Adams Powell on her inaccurate statements in court. Continue reading
UPDATE (8:00 AM, Sunday, March 18, 2018) – Dede Evavold has been booked into the Stearns County Jail.
A review this morning of Evavold’s blog and social media postings shows Evavold has still not fully complied with Judge Kathleen Gearin’s order. Continue reading
UPDATE (5:30 PM, Sunday, March 18, 2018) – Dede Evavold was arrested at her home within the last hour on an outstanding warrant. This is a developing story, so stay tuned for updates.
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A judge in Dakota County has ordered that a warrant be issued “immediately” for the arrest and detention of Dede Evavold after she ignored a previous court order from March 1, 2018, which ordered Evavold to “remove ALL blogs/postings, social media postings, or internet postings” about David Rucki, his children, and other members of the Rucki family which violate a Harassment Restraining Order.
Judge Kathleen Gearin ordered Evavold to remove the content by 9:00 AM on March 9, 2018, or report to jail in Dakota County.
As of 9:00 AM on March 9, Evavold had not removed the content, nor had she reported to jail in Dakota County, as ordered by Judge Kathleen Gearin.
Not only did Evavold ignore a court order to “remove ALL” posts about the Rucki family from her blog and social media accounts, but she also published new material on March 9.
After Evavold missed the 9:00 AM deadline detailed in Judge Gearin’s order, the attorney for the Rucki family, Lisa Elliott, filed an Affidavit of Non-Compliance with the court because Evavold did not comply with Judge Gearin’s order.
Elliott also requested that a warrant be immediately issued for Evavold’s arrest for failure to comply with Judge Gearin’s order.
Judge Gearin signed the order that an arrest warrant be issued for Evavold yesterday afternoon.
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 on Lakeville by their mother Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, during a custody and divorce proceeding. Continue reading
Dede Evavold ignored a court order issued by Judge Kathleen Gearin in Dakota County last week which ordered Evavold to “remove ALL blogs/postings, social media postings, or internet postings” about David Rucki, his children, and other members of the Rucki family which violate a Harassment Restraining Order by 9:00 AM today, or report to jail in Dakota County.
As of 9:00 AM, Evavold had not removed the content, nor had she reported to jail in Dakota County.
After Evavold missed the 9:00 AM deadline detailed in Judge Gearin’s order, the attorney for the Rucki family, Lisa Elliott, filed an Affidavit of Non-Compliance with the court because Evavold did not comply with Judge Gearin’s order.
Elliott also requested that a warrant be immediately issued for Evavold’s arrest for failure to comply with Judge Gearin’s order.
As of 3:30 PM, Evavold’s blog, and social media accounts are still filled with posts and content about the Rucki family.
The request for an arrest warrant for Evavold had not been signed by the court.
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 on Lakeville by their mother Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, during a custody and divorce proceeding. Continue reading
A judge in Dakota County ordered Dede Evavold to “remove ALL blogs/postings, social media postings, or internet postings” about David Rucki, his children, and other members of the Rucki family which violate a Harassment Restraining Order granted by a court in Dakota County in the next eight days or she will go to jail for 30 days.
On Tuesday, Judge Kathleen Gearin found Evavold was in constructive civil contempt of court at an emergency hearing held at Dakota County Western Service Center in Apple Valley, Minnesota.
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 on Lakeville by their mother Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, during a custody and divorce proceeding.
The emergency court hearing was scheduled after Lisa Elliott, who serves as the attorney for the Rucki family, filed an emergency motion with the court earlier this month which included over 200 pages of exhibits documenting Evavold’s repeated violations of a Harassment Restraining Order (HRO).
Elliott’s exhibits documented nearly 20 posts published on Evavold’s blog which violated the HRO since the last court hearing on December 13, 2017. At the court hearing, Evavold was reminded by Judge Philip Kanning that the HRO granted by Judge Karen Asphaug in July remains in effect.
In a court order released this afternoon, Judge Gearin went further than the posts identified by Elliott by ordering Evavold to “remove ALL blogs/postings, social media postings, or internet postings that refer to the Rucki family as named in the Harassment Restraining Order…”
If Evavold does not remove the posts by March 9, 2018, at 9:00 AM she will go to jail for 30 days. Continue reading
Dede Evavold was ordered to remove 20 blog posts about David Rucki, his children, and other members of the Rucki family which violate a Harassment Restraining Order (HRO) granted by a court in Dakota County by March 9, or she will go to jail for 30 days.
Judge Kathleen Gearin found Evavold was in constructive civil contempt of court at an emergency hearing held today at Dakota County Western Service Center in Apple Valley, Minnesota.
After finding Evavold in contempt of court, Judge Gearin sentenced Evavold to 30 days in jail for her failure to comply with orders issued in the case.
But Judge Gearin stayed the jail sentence for ten days, allowing Evavold to comply with her order by removing the posts from her blog.
If before March 9, 2018, at 9:00 AM, Evavold has complied with all of the orders issued, she will not have to report to jail in Dakota County.
“You may purge yourself from this contempt,” said Judge Gearing to Evavold.
Judge Gearin went on to remind Evavold that she faces further contempt of court charges if she continues to post about David Rucki, his children, and other members of the Rucki family.
Lisa Elliott, who serves as David Rucki’s family court attorney was named one of Minnesota Lawyer’s Attorneys of the Year for 2017 at a ceremony last evening in Minneapolis.
Minnesota Lawyer “recognizes the best achievements in the Minnesota legal profession with the Attorneys of the Year awards.”
Elliott has continued to serve as David Rucki’s attorney since 2011, while Sandra Grazzini-Rucki has been represented by numerous other attorneys, including Michelle MacDonald.
In a story about Elliott, Minnesota Lawyer highlighted that “Elliott’s tenacity prevailed in what is considered the first significant case in Minnesota dealing with parental alienation.”
Elliott told Minnesota Lawyer, “I like helping people through some pretty tough stages in their lives and see them come out the other side.”
David Rucki praised Elliott’s work, “on behalf of myself and my family, I want to thank Lisa Elliott for being an amazing ally and advocate over the last seven years.”
“Lisa has gone above and beyond to fight for my children and me more times than I can count. Congratulations and thank you to Lisa and everyone at Elliott Law Office,” said David. Continue reading
Below is audio from my interview with Matt McNeil yesterday on AM950 about the first week of Sandra Grazzini-Rucki’s criminal trial in Hastings.
[The Matt McNeil Show] Michael Brodkorb – Grazzini Rucki Trial Week #1 by AM950’s Podcasts
Michael Brodkorb joins the Matt McNeil Show to fill us in on what’s been happening during the first week of the Grazzini Rucki trial.
Please check back to Missing in Minnesota on Monday for additional developments involving Sandra Grazzini-Rucki’s criminal trial.
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Learn the full details of this shocking true crime story by reading the award-winning book The Girls Are Gone which is available for sale through numerous retailers in both paperback and ebook.
The first week of Sandra Grazzini-Rucki’s criminal trial has ended at the Dakota County Judicial Center in Hastings. I have been in the court for the entire trial over the past four days, and I’ve been present longer than any other member of the media who are covering the trial.
I am taking detailed notes of every legal development, along with documenting the atmosphere in the courtroom and the behavior of the key participants. The current estimate from the judge is that the jury will begin deliberating on the facts of the case on Tuesday. Continue reading
ABC’s “20/20” found no documentation to verify Sandra Grazzini-Rucki’s claim that she was physically abused by David Rucki.
During Friday’s episode of ABC’s “20/20”, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki repeated statements she has made in the past that she was physically abused by David Rucki during their marriage. Continue reading