A recently uncovered video shows Michelle MacDonald partying with her then campaign chair and manager Dede Evavold at the 2014 Republican Party of Minnesota State Convention, during the time Evavold was actively concealing the whereabouts of two missing sisters.
At the time of this video, Evavold was working on MacDonald’s 2014 campaign for the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Last week, MacDonald filed again to run for the Minnesota Supreme Court.
The girls’ mother, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, abducted her daughters during a divorce and custody dispute with her ex-husband, David Rucki.
Grazzini-Rucki was also convicted of six felonies for her role in the disappearance of her daughters.
MacDonald served as Grazzini-Rucki’s family court attorney and briefly represented her during her criminal trial.
In the video, Evavold is holding a half-empty glass of beer, and she tells MacDonald that they are campaigning on “truth.”
Evavold worked with MacDonald’s campaign for 540 of the 944 days the Rucki children were missing.
MacDonald helped Evavold mask the extent of her role in the disappearance of Rucki sisters
MacDonald helped Dede Evavold during a media interview in 2016 in masking the extent of her full role in the disappearance of the Rucki sisters, based on a video published by Evavold.
In the video published by Evavold earlier this year, MacDonald instructs Evavold on how to correctly answer a question from the producer with ABC’s “20/20” after Evavold mistakenly admitted a key element of her criminal involvement in the disappearance of the Rucki sisters in an interview.
The video provides further evidence of MacDonald’s direct involvement in the propaganda machinery of Evavold and Grazzini-Rucki.
MacDonald labeled “person of interest” by law enforcement
MacDonald was labeled in April 2015 as a “person of interest” by the Lakeville Police Department in the disappearance of Samantha and Gianna Rucki. MacDonald refused to cooperate with the Lakeville Police Department’s investigation into her possible involvement in the disappearance of the sisters – even after public statements from her that she would cooperate in the investigation. Her criminal defense attorney, Stephen Grigsby, said in 2015 that he would advise MacDonald to not speak with the Lakeville Police Department.
MacDonald was replaced as Grazzini-Rucki’s criminal defense attorney by Grigsby on November 18, 2015 – the same day the Rucki sisters were found by the Lakeville Police Department.
MacDonald disclosed law enforcement considered her a “suspect” in the disappearance of Rucki sisters
MacDonald later publicly disclosed law enforcement considered her a “suspect” in the disappearance of the Rucki sisters. MacDonald made this admission in a publication she co-authored
In the publication, MacDonald provides details on a phone conversation she had with Lieutenant Jason Polinski of the Lakeville Police Department. According to MacDonald, Polinski said she was no longer considered a suspect:
“Finally, he said I was no longer a suspect unless someone came in with evidence I participated in the girls’ disappearance and I appeared on early on with eighteen others.”
MacDonald also admits in her publication that she “suspected the only evidence they have is that I’ve been Sandra’s attorney throughout her ordeal.”
Despite MacDonald’s claims, it is her connection and involvement to both Evavold and Grazzini-Rucki which had made many ask an important question: What did Michelle MacDonald know about the disappearance of the Rucki sisters and when did she know it?
Please follow Missing in Minnesota on Twitter and Facebook for updates on MacDonald’s campaign.
Allison Mann contributed to this story.
