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Why Did This College Student Vanish Without a Trace? The Disappearance of Marcus Rutledge

February 28, 2025 / 47:09

This episode covers the mysterious disappearance of Marcus Rutledge, his secret life, and the subsequent investigation. Key topics include Marcus's relationships, his family dynamics, and the eventual discovery of his remains.

On June 8, 1998, Tania, Marcus's girlfriend, becomes concerned when he does not show up for their planned meeting. After reaching out to Marcus's family and friends, including his best friend Athan, she decides to check his apartment. There, she finds signs that something is wrong, leading to a missing person's report being filed.

As the investigation unfolds, it is revealed that Marcus had been living a double life, having dropped out of college without informing his family and selling drugs to support his children. His family is shocked to learn about these secrets, which complicate their understanding of his disappearance.

Months later, Athan is found murdered, raising suspicions about his connection to Marcus's case. Despite the similarities, investigators struggle to find a direct link between the two cases. The episode concludes with the discovery of Marcus's remains in 2024, prompting a renewed investigation into his death.

Detective Filter, who has taken over the case, believes Marcus's involvement in drug dealing may have played a role in his death, but the investigation remains open with no solid leads.

TLDR

Marcus Rutledge goes missing, revealing secrets about his life; his remains are found years later, leading to a homicide investigation.

Episode

47:09
00:00:00
a woman named Tania is getting kind of nervous she and her 23-year-old boyfriend Marcus rutage were supposed to
00:00:06
meet up but he's a noow so when Tania pulls up to Marcus's apartment his car isn't there she's actually convinced
00:00:13
that something is up so she reaches out to Marcus's best friend and he's just as
00:00:19
concerned but this is where they encountered the first big twist it turns out Marcus has been
00:00:28
keeping some major secrets from his family so it's the afternoon on Monday June 8th 1998 and a woman named Tania is
00:00:42
getting kind of nervous she and her 23-year-old boyfriend Marcus rutage were supposed to meet up but he's a no-show
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not even answering his cell phone she's like calling him and calling him but she's just not hearing anything back and
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when's the last time she spoke to him so it actually hasn't been very long I mean
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he had spent the night at her place and then took their 2-year-old daughter to daycare at around like 10:00 that
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morning and they've even honestly talked on the phone since at like 1 1:30 that afternoon so truly very little time has
00:01:10
passed it might not even ring alarm bells for some people but the thing is this is totally uncharacteristic of
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Marcus not to answer his phone and if he did miss a call he would get back to whoever tried him like ASAP so right
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away she knows in her gut that something just doesn't feel right so she reaches out to marcus' parents David and geraldy
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known as Jerry and she's just trying to see if like they have heard anything from him they're not local they're in
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southeast Michigan while toan and Marcus both live in Nashville Tennessee Marcus
00:01:39
had actually moved to Nashville to attend Tennessee State University TSU but even with the distance like his
00:01:47
family talks to him pretty regularly so Tani is hoping that they might know where he is but it turns out they
00:01:54
haven't heard from him either now according to what his dad David told our reporter Nah when he got that first call
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from tuia he understood her concern like Marcus going Mia even to him is unheard
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of but you know he tries to reassure her at first maybe Marcus just got held up somewhere it'll be fine just like give
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it a beat right but Tania says that she wants to go to marcus' duplex apartment to just check on him so David tells her
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like okay just like keep me posted and meanwhile he and Jerry start making a series of unsuccessful calls to Marcus
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themselves trying to reach him so Tania pulls up to marcus' apartment his car this red 1995 Plymouth Neon isn't there
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but instead of that reassuring her like oh he's just out for some reason she's actually more convinced than ever that
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something is up and she needs to get into his apartment now even though they've been together for a little bit
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it doesn't look like she has a key to his place so she devises this plan to call Marcus's best friend aan Gibbs
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Junior who basically helps her just break into the place that feels like a pretty big leap
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I guess I mean I think it's it's the unanswered phone calls they're just again I I can't so unlike so unlike him
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even when she calls Athan like he doesn't think she's overreacting he's just as concerned so when Ethan gets
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there he and Tania break in through a back window and what they find inside just kind of confirms for them that they
00:03:20
made the right decision because even though there's no sign of a struggle or Foul Play Marcus's Rottweiler is shut in
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his bathroom with no food or water except like the water in the toilet and they can tell that he's been there for a
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while because he had eaten part of the bathroom carpet and they know that Marcus would never leave his dog like
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that not even for a short amount of time let alone for however long it took this
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dog to start chewing on the rug so there's no indication that Marcus was planning for any kind of trip right like
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his clothes are still there there's no bag or suitcase that's packed or even missing like nothing is standing out to
00:04:00
them so with David and Jerry's encouragement Tania calls the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department
00:04:07
that very night and an officer comes to take a missing person's report now initially he gets some basic details
00:04:14
about Marcus he puts out a bolo for his car which should stick out because like it has not only is it red but like has
00:04:20
Michigan plates it's not local right now even though there is nothing in his apartment that is obviously out of place
00:04:27
like it doesn't appear that he was even robbed nothing like that David told us that something was taken from Marcus's
00:04:33
apartment that day that police do kind of check out so Marcus's landline phone was taken but there's no mystery about
00:04:42
who took it it was Tania why she says apparently it was her phone and she wanted it back question
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mark why did police let her take anything I don't know I don't know if they didn't realize that she even did at
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first like we actually got to speak with Nashville Cold Case detective Matt filter he is the one heading up the
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investigation now although he wasn't on the force when this all started but he told us that Tania actually took marcus'
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caller ID because apparently she wanted to look for numbers that she might recognize like I don't know if the call
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ID is like built into the phone I don't know why she would take it instead of telling police I say but couldn't she
00:05:25
have checked it right there at the apartment I know this part like doesn't totally add up for me but for whatever
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reason she took it with her police do though get it back from her pretty quickly like once they realize but it's
00:05:39
useless to everyone because detective filter says that when she unplugged it at Marcus's house all of the numbers
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were automatically erased it's like factory reset so if she was trying to see something that information is now
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gone and that's just one of the things Weighing on David and Jerry's Minds as they make the 500 plus mile drive to
00:06:02
Nashville the next day so when they arrive toan's house is their first stop now toan isn't a stranger to them on
00:06:10
like a pass trip to Nashville David and Jerry had taken her and Marcus out to dinner but this time they're not here
00:06:16
for a friendly visit like they want answers from her yeah but Tania tells them she has no idea what could have
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happened to Marcus or where he might be and the only person she can think of who
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Marcus spent a lot of time with with is aan so Marcus's parents arranged to meet
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up with him at their son's duplex but he doesn't have any insight to share either
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he says he is just as lost as they are and he wants to help them find Marcus any way he can however David and Jerry
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can't help but notice that their son's friend seems awfully nervous like he's literally sweating he can't sit still
00:06:57
and there's just this uncomfortable energy that is like vibrating off of him had they ever met Ethan before so they
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actually know him pretty well because up until a few months ago Athan and Marcus
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shared an apartment they were roommates but like Marcus had recently decided to get his own place so he moved out like
00:07:16
moved into this duplex that they had now looked at did anything prompt that move
00:07:19
or was it just like kind of growing up wanting your own space yeah I think you can call it that I think the two just
00:07:24
had like roommate issues but stuff that like two people who live together might encounter little things that just like
00:07:29
get under your skin marus the reason you and I have never lived together preach Marcus had I guess Ved to his family
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about aan he's messy his bills weren't getting paid on time like that kind of thing but even after Marcus moved out he
00:07:42
and Athan stayed really close friends so like there is no bad blood between them
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and honestly Marcus's family had always liked aan he is a respectful guy from a good family they never had any cause for
00:07:53
concern about Marcus being around him and even now they're wondering if his reaction is maybe just because of the
00:08:00
circumstances I mean his best friend is now missing seemingly vanished Into Thin
00:08:05
Air but marcus' sister Felicia notices the same strange Vibe when Athan takes her driving around to look for her
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brother's missing car she's like athan's acting tense he's not saying much like other than like suggesting places where
00:08:21
they should maybe look for the car he's saying that he's worried about the whole
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situation but again nothing like incriminating it's just like it could be talked up to the same thing right now as
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detectives start digging him they begin to learn more about marcus' life he has two children a nearly four-year-old son
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with a former girlfriend in Knoxville and a 2-year-old daughter with Tania he is super involved with both kids always
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checks in with his son but that child and his mom haven't heard from him either according to Tennessee and
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reporter Beth Warren Marcus had last seen his son in May when they went to the zoo and they had been planning a big
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party for his upcoming birthday was there any relationship drama no no he gets along well with both of his
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children's mothers so like that feels like a quick dead end which is when they turn to his school maybe someone at the
00:09:13
University there can help them pece things together right but this is where they encountered the first big twist in
00:09:20
their investigation it turns out Marcus has been keeping some major secrets from
00:09:27
his family [Music] two branches of the same tree two pieces of a sole where one sister
00:09:47
goes the other will be for she is but half of the whole the missing half pre-order your
00:09:57
copy at Ashley flower .c so police learn that Marcus actually dropped out of college the year before
00:10:08
back in 1997 What yeah he's basically been pretending to be a student ever since
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and his family had no idea mm in fact the last time Marcus visited his parents which was just a few weeks before he
00:10:22
went missing this was for Memorial Day he was there for a cookout he said he left early because he had to study for
00:10:28
an exam did did toan know I don't know so the detective we talked to didn't know either and nah tried calling the
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number that Marcus's dad had for Tania we're not sure if it's still the right number for her anymore like long story
00:10:43
short we haven't been able to talk to her to figure that out but either way his family was shocked to find this out
00:10:50
from police like going to TSU was the entire reason Marcus moved to Nashville in the first place I mean both his
00:10:57
parents went there he wanted to follow in their footsteps I mean the wild part is they thought he was close to
00:11:03
graduating it's not just that he was going there they were expecting to go to a graduation soon but that's not the
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only surprise in store for the family because even though Marcus doesn't have a criminal record investigators also
00:11:15
learn that he'd been selling weed and they think that he might have started when he was still a student because his
00:11:21
clientele seems to mostly be other students like it doesn't seem that he was out on the streets dealing and we're
00:11:27
talking of small scale stuff like not some big time operation and aan actually admits this to police he says that he
00:11:34
and Marcus both sell weed although I'm not sure if they work together or what and I don't know if Athan is the first
00:11:40
person that they hear this from or if he's just confirming this info that they learn or already had but he doesn't try
00:11:46
to hide it I think is the main point but that could be why he's acting so strange
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around Marcus's family he knows they're all going to find out about this and be upset about the drugs maybe yeah but
00:11:57
here's the thing even while he's being honest about the weed investigators still can't shake this feeling like
00:12:05
Athan is holding something back they just don't know what cuz like I don't think that all that stuff like just
00:12:11
stops after they learn the thing right or what they think could be the thing did he know that Marcus had dropped out
00:12:17
of school I assume he knew because they spent a decent amount of time together I
00:12:22
mean like I think I would tell you things I wouldn't necessarily tell my parents like when I was his age but
00:12:27
there doesn't seem to be any solid confirmation of that like it's kind of like with Tania I mean and even his
00:12:34
other ex I don't know what any of them did or did not know about him dropping out of college but I do know that both
00:12:42
women Tania and his other ex seem to be aware that he was selling weed I know that much in an interview with Dateline
00:12:48
NBC reporter Josh minkowitz his son's mom said that he was doing it to help provide for their child and Tania tells
00:12:55
detectives the same thing that this was just a way he could make enough money to
00:12:59
support everyone but whatever the reason his parents are hurt and Confused to find all of this out like this like it
00:13:08
completely goes against his upbringing like they raised Marcus and his sister in this solid home they felt that like
00:13:15
centered around family it's centered around Church David is actually an elected official Jerry is an elementary
00:13:21
school teacher so like selling drugs lying about being in college all of this is the last thing they expected from
00:13:29
their son however speaking of Secrets this wasn't the only time Marcus had kept a
00:13:37
big one from his parents they actually didn't know about their grandson until he was born and Marcus was only 19 at
00:13:45
the time and I don't know how like churchy they raised him but I can see that maybe being a reason why he hit it
00:13:54
yeah I mean I think he was probably just afraid that David and Jerry would be disappointed in him and that's probably
00:14:00
the reason he kept the school thing to himself like the disappointment that like he's not only is he disappointing
00:14:07
them but he's already disappointed them so it's like one more thing have they noticed any changes in Marcus's Behavior
00:14:14
like looking back like knowing or finding out about all this now so at that Memorial Day cookout I mentioned
00:14:20
earlier his sister Felicia thought that he seemed unusually stressed but when she asked him about it he just said that
00:14:26
he had a lot going on in Nashville he didn't really collaborate and as far as his parents knew everything was fine
00:14:32
like you can chalk stress up to the finals he said he was going to go stud schooling yeah right so you can imagine
00:14:38
how overwhelming this is for his family they are already dealing with him being missing but then to discover that he was
00:14:46
living a life they really knew nothing about it was a lot and David told us it's like walking through a nightmare
00:14:54
and as investigators dig deeper into Marcus's life more concerning details emerge he had gotten into a couple of
00:15:01
altercations one reported to police when it happened about a year before his disappearance and then another just a
00:15:08
few months before he went missing both incidents were apparently related to him selling weed although detective filter
00:15:14
won't share specifics about those altercations were there people after him like was anybody like not that
00:15:23
investigators can tell I like I don't think there's anyone specific or if there is they're not sharing that it
00:15:28
seems like from everything they look at they can't find any immediate dangers in
00:15:33
his life no one is saying Marcus owed them money no one has been like making threats to him but they do discover
00:15:41
something interesting back in miday Marcus they find out had rented a car for like 10 days and this stood out
00:15:51
because they know that he didn't get into an accident or anything so it doesn't look like his own car was out of
00:15:57
commission or anything so rent right now did he drive back and forth from Nashville to Knoxville a lot to see his
00:16:03
son you know that's like 360 M each trip maybe he didn't want to put the miles on
00:16:08
his car but detective filter pointed out an alternative possibility he says that
00:16:14
when you're doing something illegal you might not want to use your own car to do
00:16:19
that but they don't know if he was doing something illegal with the car or what he was using it for in those 10 days
00:16:26
they truly just have no idea right he just had a rental for 10 days right so they find that out but then beyond that
00:16:33
not much turns up there is a recent traffic ticket some receipts from a car wash like nothing that points
00:16:40
investigators in any real Direction so here you have this devoted father who has suddenly stopped checking in with
00:16:46
his kids which seems completely out of character but they've also just learned that he's been living this whole other
00:16:53
life that his family knew nothing about and they really can't tell if he left on
00:16:57
his own or if something happened to him but their thinking starts to shift on Tuesday June 30th that is when a
00:17:07
maintenance man at an apartment complex more than 20 miles from where Marcus lives spots Marcus's missing Plymouth
00:17:16
and this guy tells investigators that this car has been sitting in the same spot at Riverwood Apartments for at
00:17:22
least a couple of weeks why is he just calling about it now well according to David the guy contacts police because he
00:17:29
saw something on the news about Marcus's disappearance and the car so maybe he had only just realized I mean again it's
00:17:36
not anything bad about this car it's just kind of been there and then once they make known what car everyone's
00:17:41
looking for he's like oh that's the car does Marcus know someone who lives at this complex no so that's the thing as
00:17:47
far as anyone knows Marcus has zero connection to this complex and while investigators don't find any signs of
00:17:55
violence in the car when they look at it like there's no blood or anything like that the the fact that it's just sitting
00:18:00
there abandoned makes them think something bad must have happened to Marcus I mean if he wanted to take off
00:18:06
and start a new life like how how's he going to get there the car is the thing you need right like or if you're going
00:18:11
to leave your car behind like just leave it parked at your place why Drive 20 mil
00:18:16
and then ditch it at this random apartment complex and what's even more wild is apparently someone had been
00:18:24
driving the car around the maintenance man tells detectives that he saw this middle-aged guy occasionally using it
00:18:31
before it was left there for good around mid June so somebody who was definitely
00:18:35
not 23 year-old Marcus now detective filter says that they never identified who this mystery driver was but he also
00:18:43
says that there could be explanations that don't necessarily include this driver being the one who did something
00:18:51
to Marcus like he says like there is a world where someone could have just handed this person the car without
00:18:56
telling them anything about Marcus like could have been someone who didn't realize what they were driving around
00:19:01
until they had like found out it belonged to a missing person and then when they did like that's when they left
00:19:06
it there and didn't go back for it I was it locked up were the keys there it wasn't locked but detective filter
00:19:12
couldn't find anything in the reports that indicated if the keys were in it or not and the maintenance man had no clue
00:19:19
who the driver was by the way like hence the vague description and this is a guy
00:19:23
the maintenance guy he's like around a lot and he's like I don't recognize him I hadn't seen him around before no idea
00:19:28
why he was in the complex at all but it makes me feel like the driver had to have lived there or was close to someone
00:19:36
who did live there if he like was at the complex like back and forth a couple times like he was there and then he
00:19:42
wasn't and then he like you would think but all I know is that according to David police canvased the complex and
00:19:49
that didn't lead them to Marcus or to anyone who knew Marcus yeah but what about the people who knew the driver I
00:19:56
know we don't know who he is but like he doesn't live there but that guy has to have a tie there to me it like it's a
00:20:05
chain right like the person in the complex leads you to the driver the driver leads you to who gave him to the
00:20:10
car and and that goes all the way back to Marcus and why he doesn't have his car and where he is and if they did have
00:20:16
something to do with it right and it's not just like a car that was given to them or even if again they now know it
00:20:20
belongs to a missing person like I don't think they're going to be like fessing up to knowing him right right I don't
00:20:26
know so it's possible all the things are possible it's also possible that the canvasing they did was just light again
00:20:32
maybe people were lying or option C I just truly don't no MH but they're hopeful that now that they have the car
00:20:42
maybe they can find the driver another way and maybe through forensic evidence so police have the Plymouth towed to
00:20:49
their lab and inside they find a gun that's tucked under the driver's seat now is this more evidence of marcus'
00:20:56
double life like did the gun belong to the person who was driving the car did it belong to Marcus like couldn't tell
00:21:03
you because it doesn't look like the gun was actually registered to anyone though
00:21:08
it seems like from you know what we learned from detective filter that everyone assumes the gun was Marcus's
00:21:15
they also managed to lift two fingerprints from the car one from inside the driver's side window and then
00:21:22
another from a rented VHS tape that they find in the car now the print from the tape leads nowhere the Ive told us they
00:21:29
confirmed it belonged to an employee at the video rental place which is like give me an older sentence right and the
00:21:35
fingerprint on the window they eliminated they or they eliminated aan and toan as the sources of it but they
00:21:44
didn't like eliminate anyone else they couldn't determine who it belonged to here's the wild part to me they said it
00:21:50
could be Marcus's because detective filter says they don't have his prints on file but like here's where I get a
00:21:57
little skeptical like sure Marcus was never arrested so his prints weren't in the system but they have access to his
00:22:03
apartment like couldn't they have lifted his prints from there to compare I mean
00:22:08
you think so those two prins were the only prince in the car right like I guess I thought you were saying that
00:22:17
those are the only prints that weren't his those are the only prints that were identifiable so detective not like
00:22:23
smudged or smeared or incomplete yeah detective filter told us the car was examined meticulous L is what he said
00:22:29
and that it didn't appear to be wiped down or anything like that that's a question we asked but he says he also
00:22:34
can't say for sure again he wasn't on the case back then so from what I can tell those are the ones that were they
00:22:40
were able to pull and here's the thing Prince aside what really concerns investigators is what they don't find in
00:22:46
the car which is any proof that Marcus was alive after June 8th all of the receipts everything in the car predates
00:22:56
his disappearance meanwhile so they find Marcus's family is back in Michigan at this point trying to process their new
00:23:03
reality to David and Jerry each Revelation about their son feels like another piece of the puzzle one that
00:23:10
they never thought they would have to solve his student loan notices are starting to come in the mail which is
00:23:15
just this reminder of a life that he was supposed to be building and there's something else that's coming in
00:23:22
something far Stranger Than student loan bills shortly after their son goes missing Jerry and David start getting
00:23:30
these strange phone calls on their home phone in Michigan the phone will ring and ring but when they pick up it's
00:23:40
nothing just silence on the other end and Jerry they don't just like say hello and stop talking I mean Jerry
00:23:48
pleads with the caller like Marcus if this is you please just say something but whoever is on the other end never
00:23:57
speaks and Felicia remembers it happening like two or three times in those first couple of months and
00:24:03
according to an article by Jax Miller for Oxygen Network Marcus's son's mom was getting the same kind of unsettling
00:24:11
quiet calls do Polie try to trace these calls not that I'm aware of like I I don't know if they even try to begin
00:24:21
with i or if the problem was like like from what I can tell there's no pattern to this or anything so I don't know they
00:24:28
just think they're weird and if or if they just didn't care enough to do it I don't know but these calls do give his
00:24:33
loved ones hope that Marcus is still out there maybe maybe still alive investigators though they're not
00:24:42
as optimistic the calls are like I said super sporadic months will go by without
00:24:47
a single one and in that time the leads are even fewer so almost as quickly as it all begins the case goes cold police
00:24:57
don't have enough to work with no real Trail to follow all of the fragments that they've uncovered about Marcus
00:25:03
haven't even fit together into any kind of coherent picture no one they speak with seems to have the whole
00:25:09
story well almost no one they're still pretty sure that aan knows way more than he's letting on maybe he doesn't know
00:25:20
exactly what happened to Marcus but detective filter believes that he had some idea of what happened or who might
00:25:27
have been in involved cuz even though he was upfront about you know selling weed
00:25:32
for whatever reason after that and beyond that point it appears that he kind of just shut down and while it's
00:25:40
possible that given time he might have decided to share more that is a chance that he doesn't get because little do
00:25:47
detectives know they are about to have a new case to work and their victim will be aan
00:26:01
so let me take you to February 1999 by now Marcus has been missing for about 8 and 1 half months and the case
00:26:09
is at a complete standstill investigators are convinced that Athan knows more than he's letting on but he's
00:26:15
not talking now around this time Athan is tied up with someone new this brand new roommate of sorts this guy named
00:26:23
Charles D Brown Jr and this new Arrangement is raising some eyebrows especially with athan's brother Jonathan
00:26:31
Jonathan has been staying with Athan but as soon as Charles moves in Jonathan's like I'm piecing out for a bit like he
00:26:37
just wants to get away from the guy because Charles is one of athan's closest friends but Jonathan has never
00:26:43
approved of him he didn't think that Charles was the type of person his brother should hang out with and there
00:26:49
was definitely reasons for concern so according to articles in The Tennessean by Kirk loggin and Kathy Carlson Charles
00:26:57
had passest add for aggravated assault unlawful weapon possession and selling and possessing weed he had also been
00:27:05
shot and shot someone during an attempted home invasion that happened interestingly that attempted home
00:27:11
invasion happened one day after Marcus went missing you know we don't believe in
00:27:17
coincidences anymore right so let me rewind real quick and tell you about this home invasion because the details
00:27:24
are interesting to say the least so in the morning on June 9th 1998 three or four masked men broke into Charles's
00:27:34
apartment and at the time he was living with his girlfriend and two young children and everyone was home when The
00:27:40
Intruders broke in they demanded money and then they started shooting they're like spraying bullets everywhere with at
00:27:46
least two guns Charles get shot five times and somehow not only did he managed to survive he also returned fire
00:27:55
and hit one of the gunmen who then took off and John Yates reported something really intriguing for The Tennessean
00:28:02
Witnesses told police that they saw the suspects flee from Charles's place in two vehicles including a red one that
00:28:11
they thought looked like a Chevy Corsica and when I Googled a red Chevy Corsica it looks an awful lot like Marcus's then
00:28:19
missing red Plymouth which I actually have the photos to show you because it's just two bonkers
00:28:31
okay so this one is the Corsica and this is the Ashley they're like identical they're kind of like the
00:28:40
same car they definitely look incredibly similar I mean like if you weren't like
00:28:45
a car person right or like not even a car person but like you knew your makes and models I you could easily mix those
00:28:52
up especially if you're just like an eyewitness to something and say like yeah I saw a guy in a red car it looked
00:28:57
a little bit like this right either of those cars right so one of the two cars in that whole thing was this anyway
00:29:03
within an hour of the home invasion a man named James Cowan shows up at the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds
00:29:09
Cowan tells police some story about getting shot from a car but court records show that the bullet recovered
00:29:15
during his surgery matched a gun that the shooters left behind at Charles's apartment so I'm guessing that Cowen was
00:29:23
hit by maybe Friendly Fire during the chaos cuz again it didn't come from like Charles's gun supposedly was a Left
00:29:28
Behind now this Cowen guy was no stranger to detectives he was actually a potential suspect in six homicides oh my
00:29:37
God yeah as far as I can tell Cowen was never arrested for murder he was however
00:29:42
arrested and convicted of attempted first scree murder especially aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary for the
00:29:49
home invasion on Charles and he was sentenced to six decades in prison because of the violent nature of the
00:29:55
crime and his extensive w rap sheet which included multiple drug rated felonies now in connection to all this
00:30:02
Charles wasn't arrested since he was acting in self-defense but investigators didn't believe that Cowen and the crew
00:30:08
he came with just randomly chose Charles's house to Rob did they arrest anyone else in connection to it I mean
00:30:15
it's it was more than one person right it was but as far as I know they didn't like arrest anyone or charge anyone
00:30:23
except for CN did they recover the gun used to shoot at Charles with so that's not totally clear from the court records
00:30:32
they say they recovered two guns they recovered a 9mm found in the backyard and they had Charles's gun which is a
00:30:38
357 revolver but there were at least three guns involved because according to testimony at one point during this
00:30:45
struggle an accomplice of cow threw him a quote unquote big gun when the first gun that he was using ran out of
00:30:50
ammunition what about the gun in Marcus's car well so at the time this is happening I mean they're not going to
00:30:57
find that for weeks dat think that gun was used in this okay if that's what you're getting at yeah
00:31:10
okay so that happens now let's jump back to February of 1999 according to Kirk Loggins on the 18th Athan informs his
00:31:18
brother that Charles is going to crash with them right and so this is when Jonathan's like don't like this guy I'm
00:31:23
going to peace out a couple of days after that Athan tells him that char Char was quote unquote going crazy like
00:31:30
apparently he was super paranoid he was saying that his girlfriend was trying to
00:31:34
have him killed uh Jonathan had the exact right idea getting out of there but it's not like Jonathan moved away I
00:31:41
mean I don't think Charles was supposed to be a permanent fixture he just needed
00:31:44
to crash for a couple of days so the night of Tuesday February 23rd Jonathan comes back to the house and when he
00:31:51
pulls up the door to the duplex is wide open and when he makes his way inside there on the floor he sees his brother
00:32:00
athan's body stiff and cold he had been shot multiple times now police believe that aan was actually killed days before
00:32:09
he was found sometime before noon that past Sunday they also think that there might have been more than one weapon
00:32:16
used and shell casings that they find appear to be from a 40 caliber gun now they don't see any signs of forest entry
00:32:23
although they do notice that something is missing athan's wife Pontiac Grand D but the next day someone spots this
00:32:31
vehicle in Nashville's Englewood neighborhood which is like 18 miles from athan's apartment and they recognize it
00:32:38
from the news reports this is feeling too similar right and athan's Aunt tells Kathy Carlson that his family doesn't
00:32:47
know of any connections that he has to that area of course now obviously the biggest difference between Marcus and
00:32:54
Athens cases are that Athens is clearly a homicide he's been found while Marcus is still a missing person right and
00:33:02
while detectives are still basically in the dark about what happened to Marcus they've got a pretty good theory forming
00:33:10
about who might be responsible for athan's murder it's got to be Charles yeah and mostly because an Englewood
00:33:16
woman IDs him as the guy that she saw leaving athan's car on her street the day before his body was
00:33:23
found wait how old is Charles A I'm wondering if he could have been the one seen driving Marcus's car no that they
00:33:32
thought that guy was middle-aged um Charles is like Marcus's age like 20 early right but still police Can't
00:33:38
Ignore how sketchy his behavior gets Kirk loggin reported that Charles skips athan's funeral and completely ghost
00:33:46
police when they try to question him further a friend who hung out with Charles and Athan over the weekend tells
00:33:51
investigators that Charles was seriously worried about his own safety possibly because of that home invasion that we
00:33:58
talked about now Charles was apparently so convinced that someone was after him that he was wearing a bulletproof vest
00:34:06
around and he had at least two guns in his SUV including a 40 caliber like the shell casings found at the scene so
00:34:14
talking or not they do have enough on him to charge him with athan's murder in early March and after a few days on the
00:34:22
Run he ends up turning himself in hold up what's the motive Charles got paranoid and then just snapped on aan no
00:34:33
so not likely detective filter actually refers to athan's murder as drug related
00:34:37
cuz he believes that aan was selling weed when he was killed so he was wrapped up in what could have been a
00:34:44
dangerous crowd although if he was I mean he was clearly keeping some secrets of his own from certain family members
00:34:51
because his aunt says that aan was working as a tax consultant at his father's like income tax business
00:34:57
business so I don't know that they're connecting it to like Charles's paranoia like it or if they're saying the
00:35:03
paranoia is separate and Charles did it because it was a drug thing I don't know
00:35:06
it's a little like convoluted and muddy MH either way at first investigators suspect that there could be a connection
00:35:14
between athan's murder and marcus' disappearance and when The Rutledge family hears about athan's death they
00:35:21
can hardly believe it marcus' sister Felicia is devastated CU in her mind Athan was the one person who could fill
00:35:28
in maybe someday all the blanks about her brother and now he's gone but Charles's arrest is a hopeful sign for
00:35:36
Marcus's dad David because he figures that once police start like pushing on Charles maybe the dam will burst and
00:35:43
maybe they can finally find his son but here comes another unexpected twist I wish I could tell you more about
00:35:59
what investigators learn from Charles but there is not much info available we know that a preliminary hearing is held
00:36:07
later that March Charles is emotional he's sobbing at times and like shaking his head throughout the proceedings the
00:36:14
judge finds sufficient evidence to send the case to a grand jury but it doesn't look like Charles is ever actually
00:36:21
indicted or if he is the da decides not to pursue it because the murder charge just
00:36:29
disappears what how I guess there just wasn't enough to move forward I mean the headline for Kirk Logan's article about
00:36:37
the prelim was literally hearing short on evidence in Belleview slaying so the evidence presented by the state I mean
00:36:46
we know was mostly circumstantial like I mean they had Witnesses who could talk about Charles's Behavior they could talk
00:36:51
about the fact that he had guns but they couldn't actually connect him to the murder itself or even like I said
00:36:59
establish a clear timeline or motive but I thought his gun was used to kill aan no he just had the same type of gun as
00:37:08
the one used to kill Athan what about that witness who ided him dropping Ethan's car though not
00:37:15
enough detective filter thinks that the da in the end just like wasn't confident
00:37:20
that they could get a conviction so they just dismissed the charges probably hoping that they'd be able to build a
00:37:25
stronger case later but for whatever reason that never happened athan's murder is still considered unsolved
00:37:33
today and when it comes to any connection between athan's murder and Marcus going missing while there might
00:37:39
be some witness overlap between the investigations police say they've never been able to establish any direct link
00:37:47
between the two though it's interesting detective filter says that as far as he can tell from the case File
00:37:54
investigators only really looked at Charles like there's nothing showing that they ever dug into Cowen or his
00:38:00
associates in connection with marcus' disappearance and then we asked him about it he told us like yeah you know
00:38:06
that's an angle maybe worth exploring which like yeah but no one has in oh about three decades no I mean to me the
00:38:17
timing alone the home invasion a day after he went missing not to mentioned the red car stuff I know it definitely
00:38:25
raises like a couple of questions at least right plus we know that Cowen was already being looked at for other
00:38:32
violent crimes at that point right so I don't know we'll have to see we'll have to wait and see if filter pursues that
00:38:38
lead oh and we actually did try get in touch with Cowen who was actually released from prison more than a decade
00:38:44
ago and is out there on parole but we couldn't reach him and Charles who has been in and out of lockup over the years
00:38:52
for various crimes he is in prison now on drug related charges so we couldn't make contact with him now whether or not
00:38:59
any of these guys were involved police still believe that aan knew more than he led on and that he took some secrets
00:39:08
about Marcus's disappearance to his grave do they have any theories about where Marcus could be I mean as similar
00:39:16
and connected as these cases seem it's it stands out so much that Marcus just vanished while Ethan was just shot
00:39:28
and left in his home on the floor like why the difference well I mean they don't have any theories on a connection
00:39:36
because they can't prove the cases are connected at all so like without that link you can't even build upon that
00:39:41
right like they're just stuck so that was pretty much it like years passed tips aren't coming in media coverage is
00:39:50
minimal and the case just sits there but around 2010 something significant does happen the rutage family learns that
00:40:01
Marcus had another big secret they find out that he had a daughter with who Tania like another one no but they never
00:40:15
knew he had a daughter how is that even possible I mean didn't investigators no so they did
00:40:24
I don't know how this happened but it looks like they never communic at that to his family which like why would you
00:40:30
right like I can maybe they thought like oh surely they know about this Grand child yeah there's no need to bring up
00:40:37
something so obvious right but like wouldn't it come up when the police were getting basic information like if his
00:40:45
parents had mentioned their grandson wouldn't someone have said like oh and what about your granddaughter you would
00:40:52
think but it didn't happen and I guess like the part that I can't get over is like the fact that Tania never mentioned
00:40:59
it either which makes you wonder like what other secret she had because that feels like a secret it doesn't feel like
00:41:05
something that just like gets missed right like they come they have dinner with her before they're like they're all
00:41:11
she's like a main contact when Marcus goes missing like they're in they're in communication with her yeah you would
00:41:19
think when she calls them to be like oh he's like he's not answering his phone or when's the last time you saw him when
00:41:24
he went to drop our daughter off at daycare that's how we started it that intentionally out I don't know I wish we
00:41:34
could talk to her but we haven't been able to get a hold of her like I said I mean how did they even find out about
00:41:40
their granddaughter I don't know the exact details of how this unfolds I just know that Marcus's son somehow connected
00:41:47
with her on Facebook and then that's when the rest of the family found out so like it's it's fuzzy but this is one of
00:41:54
those that even though it's a shock it's at least a good surprise like they have
00:41:58
another little piece of Marcus to hold on to and despite Marcus keeping her a secret I have to imagine that even he'd
00:42:04
be happy knowing that they all have finally found each other and just in time because in 2015 Marcus's mom Jerry
00:42:13
passes away and then in 2020 detective filter who is in the Nashville PD's Cold Case unit he this is when he picks up
00:42:20
the investigation for what started as like a pretty routine reason basically they were doing like DNA house keeping
00:42:27
they only have DNA from one of marcus' kids in codus so filter wanted to get more family profiles into the system so
00:42:34
that they can be prepared if they ever need to make comparisons if they ever find remains did something specific
00:42:40
prompt that like were there remains that could have been his found nothing like that I think he just wanted to be
00:42:45
proactive he was making sure all of their bases were covered and that DNA update was going to be the extent of it
00:42:52
but once he started talking to David and learning more about Marcus he just like
00:42:57
I don't know the case like latched on to him he like kept digging he wanted to see if he could help the rages like get
00:43:02
some an some way hi me uh big update so that was kind of where our episode was supposed to end
00:43:15
Britt and I wrapped it up did the usual call the action but literally just this last week like right as we were about to
00:43:21
release this episode something huge happened a major break in the case on January 31st police announced that
00:43:30
Marcus's remains have been found there was a skull that had been found by a hunter back on December 8th 2010 in some
00:43:39
Woods near Ashlin City Highway and pan Valley Road that is nearly 13 mil from where Marcus's car was found and 30 mi
00:43:48
from his apartment now the sequence of events is a little baffling for me and I'm sure frustrating for Marcus's family
00:43:56
who are still coping with the news and I say baffling because DNA from this unidentified skull wasn't uploaded to
00:44:04
codus until a month after we interviewed the police so we interviewed them in October and then the me submitted the
00:44:12
skull DNA to cotus in November this is of 2024 and we don't know why it took so long marcus' DNA had been in cotus for
00:44:21
years and you heard right before our like record scratch moment that even more of his family's DNA had been added
00:44:28
by detective filter to ensure that there would be enough to get a match to any unidentified remains that might surface
00:44:36
the DNA match that they got was a match to DNA collected from Marcus's daughter it's just a shame that it didn't come 14
00:44:44
years sooner cuz it puts detectives even further behind than they would have been
00:44:49
in 2010 detective filter told us it is unclear if police searched the woods thoroughly at the time when the skull
00:44:56
was found so he is planning to do a search of his own hoping to find more because unfortunately even though they
00:45:03
now know where Marcus has been the skull hasn't told them much there were no wounds or markings on it that gave a
00:45:10
clue as to how Marcus was killed but detectives are clear that they do believe Marcus was killed and this
00:45:17
missing person's case is now actively being worked as a homicide which filter believed was the case even before
00:45:25
finding Marcus's skull he believes that Marcus's involvement in selling weed likely played a role in his death the
00:45:33
problem is even after this major breakthrough police still have not gotten a single solid lead I'm not
00:45:40
kidding you not even one and detective filter doesn't think this case is going to be solved by science what they need
00:45:47
is for someone who knows the truth to finally start talking now Marcus's family they were holding out hope for so
00:45:54
long that he was still alive like they held out that hope till the very end it's what our whole ending was about so
00:46:01
this news was devastating to them but maybe now that everyone knows where he was and where he was found it could help
00:46:08
connect some of the dots about what happened in those crucial days after June 8th
00:46:13
1998 they are convinced someone out there knows exactly what happened to him and maybe you're that someone so if
00:46:23
you have any information about the death of Marcus rutage or even athan's murder
00:46:29
contact the Department's Crimestoppers division at 615 74e at 6157417071 [Music]
00:46:56
for Crime junkie wherever you get your podcast [Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most heartbreaking
  • 85
    Most shocking
  • 85
    Biggest twist
  • 80
    Most emotional

Episode Highlights

  • The Disappearance of Marcus
    Tania's growing concern leads her to investigate Marcus's sudden absence, uncovering secrets.
    “It's totally uncharacteristic of Marcus not to answer his phone.”
    @ 01m 16s
    February 28, 2025
  • Shocking Secrets Revealed
    Investigators discover Marcus had dropped out of college and was selling weed.
    “He was basically pretending to be a student ever since.”
    @ 10m 12s
    February 28, 2025
  • A Father's Nightmare
    David expresses the emotional turmoil of discovering his son’s hidden life.
    “It's like walking through a nightmare.”
    @ 14m 51s
    February 28, 2025
  • The Mysterious Phone Calls
    After Marcus went missing, his family received strange silent phone calls, raising hope and fear.
    “If this is you, please just say something.”
    @ 23m 48s
    February 28, 2025
  • Athan's Tragic End
    Athan, who might have known about Marcus, is found murdered, leaving his family devastated.
    “Athan was the one person who could fill in maybe someday all the blanks about her brother.”
    @ 35m 26s
    February 28, 2025
  • Charles's Arrest and Its Implications
    Charles is arrested for Athan's murder, sparking hope for answers in Marcus's case.
    “Maybe the dam will burst and maybe they can finally find his son.”
    @ 35m 38s
    February 28, 2025
  • Family Discovers Granddaughter
    Marcus's family learns about his daughter through a Facebook connection, adding a bittersweet twist to their story.
    “It's a shock, but at least a good surprise.”
    @ 41m 54s
    February 28, 2025
  • Major Breakthrough in Marcus's Case
    On January 31st, police announced that Marcus's remains have been found after years of searching.
    “A major break in the case!”
    @ 43m 24s
    February 28, 2025

Episode Quotes

  • It's totally uncharacteristic of Marcus not to answer his phone.
    Why Did This College Student Vanish Without a Trace? The Disappearance of Marcus Rutledge
  • He was basically pretending to be a student ever since.
    Why Did This College Student Vanish Without a Trace? The Disappearance of Marcus Rutledge
  • It's like walking through a nightmare.
    Why Did This College Student Vanish Without a Trace? The Disappearance of Marcus Rutledge
  • Maybe they can finally find his son.
    Why Did This College Student Vanish Without a Trace? The Disappearance of Marcus Rutledge
  • I wish I could tell you more about what investigators learn from Charles.
    Why Did This College Student Vanish Without a Trace? The Disappearance of Marcus Rutledge
  • It's a shock, but at least a good surprise.
    Why Did This College Student Vanish Without a Trace? The Disappearance of Marcus Rutledge

Key Moments

  • Secrets Uncovered10:12
  • A Father's Nightmare14:51
  • Strange Calls23:33
  • Athan Found32:00
  • Charles Arrested34:20
  • Circumstantial Evidence36:46
  • Family Secrets40:56
  • Homicide Investigation45:20

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown