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Background: A section of Clark Boulevard in Arbutus, Maryland (Google Maps). Insets (from left to right): Dwight Rust Jr. and Michelle Rust (Baltimore County Police Department).
A man in Maryland is accused of killing his wife as she made preparations for their son's third birthday party and then telling authorities that she disappeared.
Dwight Rust Jr., 48, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, 24-year-old Michelle Rust, the Baltimore County Police Department announced.
The case stretches back decades to a summer day. On July 20, 2002, Michelle Rust was at the married couple's home on Clark Boulevard in Arbutus, Maryland, "making preparations" for their 3-year-old son's birthday party. By 3 p.m., she was gone, and police responded to the residence "for a reported missing person."
Officers made contact with Dwight Rust Jr., who told them that his wife "had left their residence around 9:30 a.m. to go to the store to pick up items for their son's third birthday party and had not returned." She had taken a green Dodge van, he added.
As investigators began interviewing witnesses, however, they learned that "no one saw Mrs. Rust actually leave her house on Clark Boulevard in Arbutus, and no one ever saw her behind the wheel of her vehicle, a green 1998 Dodge Caravan."
Authorities and loved ones searched "various neighborhoods," and Michelle Rust's father-in-law found her Dodge minivan "parked and unoccupied" a few miles away "with a key broken off in the driver's door lock." The investigation continued.
Investigators realized there was no activity "on any of the missing woman's financial accounts." Her credit cards and items she was wearing the day she disappeared — such as clothing and jewelry — were not found.
"Finally, family members say that Michelle Rust loved her three-year-old son, and would not have disappeared on her own, leaving the child behind," the police department said. "She is also a diabetic and dependent on insulin. This adds more weight to the conclusion that she has been the victim of foul play."
According to authorities, a grand jury on Monday indicted Dwight Rust Jr. on the murder charge. He was arrested the following day and booked into the Baltimore County Detention Center without bail.
The indictment against him remains sealed. Police did not say whether new evidence prompted the arrest so many years after Michelle Rust's disappearance.
A nearby resident suggested that the arrest may come as catharsis for the victim's family.
"It's just very scary," a Baltimore citizen told area NBC affiliate WBAL. "This family has been waiting for justice for 24 years."