Cold and Missing: Willie Ann Rucker

WEBVTT

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The views and opinions expressed in Cold and

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Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All

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parties mentioned are considered innocent until

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proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing

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also contains adult themes and languages. Listener

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discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin

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-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.

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And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover

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cold cases and missing person cases. Hello, everyone,

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and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your

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host, Ali. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Welcome

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back, everyone, and welcome back to me. I'm back

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this week to co -host with my lovely, intelligent,

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incredible wife, and we've got a new case for

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you this week. That's right. I am back from my

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work travel, so we're in the same space, in the

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same house again, and we're ready to bring you

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this new case. That's right. We are on a missing

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person case this week. And this is going to be

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episode 147. All right, let's get into it. Let's

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do it. Today, we are talking about the missing

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person case of Willie Ann Rucker. And this takes

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place in April of 1979 in Waterloo, Iowa. But

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first, a little bit about Willie Ann. Willie

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Ann Rucker was just 27 years old when she disappeared.

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By all accounts, it seems like she mostly went

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by her middle name Ann, so you'll hear me kind

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of flip back and forth between those two names.

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She was a young mother of three, two daughters,

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ages 10 and 9, and a baby boy who was just over

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a year old in 1979. Her loved ones described

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her as kind and hardworking, someone who always

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put her children first. She was a wonderful mother.

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At the time, Ann had recently gone through a

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divorce and was doing her best to rebuild her

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life on her own. She stood about 5 '3 and weighed

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around 110 pounds. Small in stature, but strong.

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She worked long hours to provide for her family.

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Willie Ann worked as a cocktail waitress at Riddell's

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Living Room Lounge, located at 1428 East 4th

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Street in Waterloo, Iowa. Today, the building

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still stands, but it's vacant. She lived in an

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apartment at 429 West Donald Street, apartment

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103, which was only about five minutes away from

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where she worked. In the days leading up to her

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disappearance, Ann had reached out to police.

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She told them that her ex had been frightening

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her and that he was stalking her. She was scared,

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but she reached out and asked for help. And now

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a timeline of events. Sunday, April 8th, 1979.

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That Sunday, Ann had spent part of the day with

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her sister, Mary Lee, as she got ready for work.

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It was a regular shift for Willie Ann at Riddell's

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Lounge. There aren't any reports about anything

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unusual happening during her shift. After the

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bar closed, she called Mary Lee from a grocery

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store. and asked if their brother could pick

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up the kids and bring them back to her apartment.

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Now, from here, there are a couple of different

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things that are reported over the years. There

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is one mention that a few minutes later, Willie

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Ann calls her sister again. In this report, it

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says that Willie Ann called her sister Mary Lee

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again, but this time she was actually at her

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apartment, and she called to ask where the kids

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were at. her sister told her that her brother

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was still bringing them over to her apartment.

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But during that call, Ann said something that

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was terrifying. She told her sister that her

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ex was trying to break into the apartment. Now,

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over the years, that second phone call where

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she says that her ex is breaking into the apartment

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has dropped out of the reporting. The story that's

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told today and most often in the reports is that

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the children arrived at the apartment. but their

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mother never did. That was the last time that

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anyone in Ann's family ever heard from her.

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It's unclear exactly what was done searching

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for Willie Ann over the next couple days. We

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know that her family noticed right away. Of course,

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her sister did, and her children, of course,

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noticed that she was missing. But it's not until

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four days later, on Thursday, April 12th, that

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she's officially reported missing to the police.

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It's unclear if this is when the family wanted

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to report it or if this is the first time the

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police would take the report, because it does

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seem like the family was aware she was missing

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and was worried about it right away. On Sunday,

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April 15th, so it's a full week now since anybody

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has seen Willian, and police began actively searching

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for her, so they're a week behind. Her family

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told investigators that it was completely out

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of character for her to leave without a word.

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She loved her children deeply. There was no way

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she would abandon them. And it didn't really

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add up. Why would Willie Ann call and ask for

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her children to be brought to her apartment if

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she was just going to leave suddenly and unexpectedly?

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Why would she do that? Police begin looking into

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it, but pretty quickly, they run into dead ends.

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On Tuesday, April 17th, so this is nine days

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after Willie Ann was last heard from, Police

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ask the public for help in finding the young

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mother. Police say they don't have any leads

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at this point. The next week, on Sunday, April

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22nd, so this has now been two weeks since Willie

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Ann vanished, and police learned that someone

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had broken into her apartment. Police say that

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the lock had been picked and that the only thing

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stolen from the apartment was one of Ann's warm

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-up suits. Nothing else was reported missing.

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Investigators publicly stated that they didn't

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believe the break -in was related to her disappearance.

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By early May, approaching a month since Willie

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Ann vanished, police had very few clues. They

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suspected foul play and revealed that they were

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looking for a man. However, detectives fear that

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this man that they're looking for has fled the

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state. Police never publicly name him in the

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paper he's just kind of referred to as an ex

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of hers. Ann's family still holds out hope that

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she's alive and that maybe she had gone to Arkansas,

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where her mother and father lived. The family

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thought that maybe she had gone out there to

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lay low if she was experiencing trouble with

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this ex, but none of the family in Arkansas had

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heard from her in the month or seen her. Pretty

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quickly, After this, the case goes cold. It doesn't

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seem like police ever find the person who broke

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into her apartment, and they certainly don't

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find Willie Ann or the person responsible for

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her vanishing. In 1992, so 13 years had passed,

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and there were still no answers. Police admitted

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that they still had no leads. They said at this

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point, they have entered her information into

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national databases. hoping that if she ever was

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pulled over or identified anywhere in the country,

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it would alert law enforcement that this person

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was missing and they could get back to Waterloo

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police. But that never happened. Willie Ann never

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requested a driver's license. Her social security

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was never active. There was no movement on any

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of her information. Sergeant Paul Fitzgerald

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told the press, quote, And by this time, 13 years

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later, Willie Ann's three children were either

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grown adults or they had moved in with her mother

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in Arkansas. Decades will continue to pass. In

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2001, so more than two decades after her disappearance,

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Willie Ann's name would resurface from time to

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time in the media whenever they were talking

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about other missing person cases in the area,

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but there were never any leads or new information

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in her case. Her family accepted what their hearts

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felt, that there was a chance that Willie Ann

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was never coming home alive. Her cousin, Corla

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Rucker, who was just seven or eight when Willie

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Ann vanished, told the paper, quote, I thought

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the same thing I think with Ann. that she's dead.

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She has kids and she hasn't tried to make any

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kind of contact with them. If she was alive,

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she would have tried to make contact with her

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children. Over the years, Willie Ann's children

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grew up. Her daughters shielded their little

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brother from the truth, telling him that their

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mother had died in a car accident. Her son, David

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Barrett, didn't learn what had actually happened

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until he was in his 20s. It was at a family reunion

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around the year 2000, an uncle accidentally let

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it slip that his mother had actually disappeared

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and that no one knew what happened to her. David

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later said, quote, it was a shocker. I had gone

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all my life trying to figure out what actually

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happened. Every time I'd ask somebody, they'd

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be like, go ask him, go ask her. They kept pushing

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it around. David and his sisters had been raised

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by their grandparents, Willie Ann's parents.

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When his older sister finished her undergraduate

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degree, she became David's legal guardian and

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moved him to her house. It was there that David

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met his high school football coach, Clinton Gore,

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the man who would help launch his career. David

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Barrett would go on to be drafted by the Arizona

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Cardinals in the fourth round of the NFL draft.

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He later became a starting cornerback for the

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New York Jets. As he traveled across the country,

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playing in stadiums packed with thousands of

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people, he said he had always hoped that maybe

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one day his mother would show up at one of his

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games. In 2007, nearly three decades after she

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vanished, Ann's family is still searching for

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the truth. Her daughter Kim told reporters, quote,

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We've had private investigators work on the case.

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We think it was an ex -boyfriend who killed her,

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but we've never been able to prove it. As of

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2025, it's been 46 years since Willie Ann Rucker

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disappeared. She was a young mother, a sister,

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and a daughter, a woman doing her best to raise

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her kids and move forward after a difficult divorce.

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She asked for help when she was scared, and she

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deserved protection and safety. Her children

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grew up without answers and her family has spent

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nearly five decades wondering what happened to

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her that night in April of 1979. So if you have

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any information about the disappearance of Willie

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Ann Rucker or her whereabouts today, please call

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the Waterloo Police Department at 319 -291 -2515.

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or the Missing Person Information Clearinghouse,

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Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at 515

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-725 -6036. So that is the missing person case

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of Willie Ann Rucker. Um, first of all, I just

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love her name. It's such a cool name and such

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a unique name that I'm sad I didn't hear it until

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today. There's so much behind this case. There's

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a lot of missing pieces. It goes back and forth,

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the timeline. I have a lot of clarifying questions.

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But first, just to speak on Willie Ann, the description

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of her being small but mighty or brave. I definitely

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align with that. I'm a small guy. I still feel

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very powerful and empowered even in my size.

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So it always feels comforting to hear someone

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else described like that. But all the more heartbreaking

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to know her size and that maybe in this case

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she was harmed or taken advantage of or much

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worse. And I'm just really looking forward to

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talking about this case with you. Yeah. Willie

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Ann seems like a very tough woman. You know,

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she's 27 years old. She has these three young

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kids that she's taking care of by herself. And

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she's working as a cocktail waitress, which is

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a tough job. Working as a cocktail waitress,

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I personally have never done it, but I know my

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mother has. And I know it's tough work and you

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got to be tough to do it. Yeah, I mean, statistically

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and especially during that time, Not that a ton

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has changed in behaviors everywhere, but I think

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being a woman in that environment while you're

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trying to do your job and being surrounded by

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people who have been drinking, mostly men, you're

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putting up with a lot, a lot of what I imagine

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bullshit and misogyny. Just not easy shifts.

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So it was very easy for me to picture her. And

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especially after I did look at her picture, I

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could picture her in that environment and like

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running it the way that she was described. So,

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yeah, I totally agree. She sounded tough and

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like a badass. Completely agree. Yeah. I do want

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to move into the timeline a little bit and particularly

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starting with. Her fear surrounding her ex, either

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it's her husband or ex -boyfriend. Maybe we can

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get some clarity on that, but I also know that

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maybe you might not be sure with the information

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out there. Yes, it is very thin. You know, the

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reports back in 1979, the media coverage is very

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thin in Willian's case. So there were reports

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that she had gone through a divorce recently.

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But then, you know, her family talks about an

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ex -boyfriend. Maybe it wasn't a divorce per

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se. Maybe it was, you know, a breakup where they

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had lived together for a long time and it just

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felt more like a divorce. But it does seem like

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she had separated from somebody recently and

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that was causing issues in her life. Yeah. Hearing

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that instantly, my body was shaking. I just was

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so... angry because time and time again, we have

00:15:09.700 --> 00:15:15.679
heard cases like this and almost always women

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and specifically women of color are failed in

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these instances over and over again. Like the

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fact that there is mismatching information around

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this case is unforgivable. And just heartbreaking

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because she did reach out. She did say something.

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And for it to not be taken seriously, for it

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to not be looked at more closely. Yeah, I mean,

00:15:45.809 --> 00:15:48.149
I know I could maybe be maybe I'm speaking in

00:15:48.149 --> 00:15:51.789
an echo chamber right now, but it was painful,

00:15:51.889 --> 00:15:54.470
painful to listen to because instantly I knew

00:15:54.470 --> 00:15:58.970
that the system was failing her. Yeah, it is.

00:15:59.250 --> 00:16:04.080
It is really frustrating that. Here she is raising

00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:06.700
the alarm days before she disappears that, you

00:16:06.700 --> 00:16:08.799
know, somebody is stalking her, somebody is harassing

00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:11.299
her. She has these three young kids. She's by

00:16:11.299 --> 00:16:14.379
herself. It's really frustrating to think that

00:16:14.379 --> 00:16:17.159
she raised this alarm, had these concerns, her

00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:19.700
family knew about these concerns, and yet police

00:16:19.700 --> 00:16:24.259
don't know who did this to her. You know, to

00:16:24.259 --> 00:16:26.799
me, it seems, you know, what the family thinks,

00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:29.940
you know, that an ex -boyfriend is involved.

00:16:31.690 --> 00:16:33.929
You know, a lot of evidence seems to point that

00:16:33.929 --> 00:16:37.629
way with her sounding the alarm, being stalked,

00:16:37.629 --> 00:16:40.470
being harassed. Like, that's all a recipe for

00:16:40.470 --> 00:16:42.669
disaster. And it's painful to think that she

00:16:42.669 --> 00:16:48.149
was trying to stop it from happening and nothing

00:16:48.149 --> 00:16:52.049
she did, you know, prevented it. Nobody, you

00:16:52.049 --> 00:16:54.629
know, the police didn't step in and stop it.

00:16:54.830 --> 00:16:58.649
And not to mention just, you know, prior to her

00:16:58.649 --> 00:17:01.740
disappearance. or foul play with her disappearance,

00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:11.819
the toll that that takes on a person of constantly

00:17:11.819 --> 00:17:14.880
worrying and looking over your shoulder and living

00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:19.839
life in survival mode and in pure fear is exhausting.

00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:23.700
And she was doing this as a single parent to

00:17:23.700 --> 00:17:30.390
not one, not two, but three kids. And I know

00:17:30.390 --> 00:17:32.470
I've said it before, but like for the love of

00:17:32.470 --> 00:17:35.910
God, like why did no one help her? I'm really

00:17:35.910 --> 00:17:38.109
glad that you brought this case here today because

00:17:38.109 --> 00:17:41.930
it feels like we can maybe be even just a little

00:17:41.930 --> 00:17:44.990
bit helpful with getting her name back out there.

00:17:45.309 --> 00:17:50.190
And I do want to circle back to the first 72

00:17:50.190 --> 00:17:54.089
hours or the way. Her being reported missing

00:17:54.089 --> 00:17:57.890
happened and how law enforcement handled it.

00:17:57.970 --> 00:18:01.789
We know if you're interested in true crime or

00:18:01.789 --> 00:18:04.349
engage with it, that the first 72 hours are critical

00:18:04.349 --> 00:18:07.430
in a missing person case. And that window of

00:18:07.430 --> 00:18:12.289
time just fucking flew by. And it was a week,

00:18:12.289 --> 00:18:14.630
I think you said, until they started looking

00:18:14.630 --> 00:18:17.630
for her. And it's like, I never want to say it's

00:18:17.630 --> 00:18:21.720
too late, but the ball was dropped. And again,

00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:27.359
this woman, Willie Ann, was failed. Yeah. So

00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:30.160
she officially gets reported four days after

00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:33.799
she went missing. So she goes missing late Sunday,

00:18:34.059 --> 00:18:36.039
early Monday morning. She's reported missing

00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:39.839
that Thursday. But police don't start looking

00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.519
for her officially, it seems like, until that

00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:45.859
Sunday. I don't know for sure the reasoning.

00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:48.180
You know, they never came out and said this is

00:18:48.180 --> 00:18:52.420
why we waited. I imagine they assumed that, you

00:18:52.420 --> 00:18:54.539
know, she would show up, she would turn up, she'd

00:18:54.539 --> 00:18:56.619
call somebody, she just needs to get away. You

00:18:56.619 --> 00:18:58.500
know, we see that again and again, and especially

00:18:58.500 --> 00:19:02.099
in older missing person cases. But it seems like

00:19:02.099 --> 00:19:04.279
at one week when nobody had heard from her, when

00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:07.119
her family insists how strange that is, that's

00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:08.839
when they finally start to take her disappearance

00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:11.680
seriously. But like you said, they're a week

00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:16.039
behind, you know, the trails. already cold at

00:19:16.039 --> 00:19:18.000
that point. They're not hot on the trail. They're

00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:21.420
a week behind it. So it's difficult to come back

00:19:21.420 --> 00:19:26.460
from that. Well, you bringing this case to us

00:19:26.460 --> 00:19:29.240
means that we are taking it seriously. So I do

00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:32.960
want to get into some of the details and just

00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:37.619
clarify some of them. I want to just recap or

00:19:37.619 --> 00:19:40.559
go back to the section of the phone calls and

00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:42.839
what happened, what was said about the kids.

00:19:43.589 --> 00:19:47.869
So the phone calls. So these all take place late

00:19:47.869 --> 00:19:50.509
Sunday, early Monday morning. We don't have exact

00:19:50.509 --> 00:19:52.970
times of them, but it's after she works her shift

00:19:52.970 --> 00:19:57.670
at Riddell's lounge, living room lounge. So after

00:19:57.670 --> 00:20:01.029
she works her shift, we know for sure she calls

00:20:01.029 --> 00:20:04.089
her sister from a grocery store and asks that

00:20:04.089 --> 00:20:06.869
the kids be brought to her apartment. You know,

00:20:06.869 --> 00:20:09.390
she's headed that way. Go ahead and bring the

00:20:09.390 --> 00:20:13.000
kids home. So that phone call. for sure has happened.

00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:17.180
The second phone call is the one that I question.

00:20:17.420 --> 00:20:21.160
It's only mentioned once in newspaper reports

00:20:21.160 --> 00:20:24.500
that Willian called again. And this time she

00:20:24.500 --> 00:20:26.799
was at her apartment, not at the grocery store,

00:20:26.940 --> 00:20:29.339
at her apartment asking where the kids were.

00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:32.380
And her sister says that, you know, her brother

00:20:32.380 --> 00:20:34.259
is bringing them. They're not there yet. They're

00:20:34.259 --> 00:20:37.859
still there. And Willian says that somebody's

00:20:37.859 --> 00:20:39.819
breaking into the apartment. She says her ex

00:20:39.819 --> 00:20:42.420
-boyfriend. Again, he's not named, but I assume

00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:44.460
she knows who it is and names the person to her

00:20:44.460 --> 00:20:47.619
sister. So that phone call, that second phone

00:20:47.619 --> 00:20:52.660
call, drops out of the timeline later. And when

00:20:52.660 --> 00:20:54.740
this case is reported today, when it's talked

00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:57.200
about today, that second phone call is not mentioned.

00:20:57.259 --> 00:20:59.900
So I don't know if it didn't happen, but it seems

00:20:59.900 --> 00:21:03.960
so specific for it not to have happened, for

00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:06.779
it to be reported on, or if it just kind of got

00:21:06.779 --> 00:21:09.599
brought out of the timeline. in the official

00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:11.559
media report because police wanted to keep that

00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:14.880
detail closer to the vest. I'm not sure about

00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:18.259
the second phone call. But today when we talk

00:21:18.259 --> 00:21:21.539
about Willie Ann's case, they say the phone call

00:21:21.539 --> 00:21:24.339
at the grocery store happened and then the kids

00:21:24.339 --> 00:21:26.720
arrive at the apartment, but Willie Ann never

00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:30.920
shows up. So that is the official statement of

00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:36.019
events today. Okay, thank you for compiling that.

00:21:36.140 --> 00:21:39.730
I know it's hard for it to be. because it's just

00:21:39.730 --> 00:21:43.710
not, but I have a much greater understanding

00:21:43.710 --> 00:21:47.829
of what happened during that section of the timeline,

00:21:48.130 --> 00:21:53.950
which begs the question, I don't understand how

00:21:53.950 --> 00:21:57.670
that conclusion wasn't drawn, that the break

00:21:57.670 --> 00:22:01.029
-in that did actually happen, whether she said

00:22:01.029 --> 00:22:03.490
it in a phone call or not, we can confirm that

00:22:03.490 --> 00:22:08.750
that did happen. How the robbery... And her disappearance

00:22:08.750 --> 00:22:13.549
were not linked at all or wasn't even looked

00:22:13.549 --> 00:22:18.970
at. I don't know what to say on that. I was baffled.

00:22:19.329 --> 00:22:22.269
The break -in is a very strange detail in this

00:22:22.269 --> 00:22:24.309
case and one that I don't think is talked about

00:22:24.309 --> 00:22:28.150
enough. So the break -in seems to happen weeks

00:22:28.150 --> 00:22:31.630
after Willie Ann goes missing, maybe a week and

00:22:31.630 --> 00:22:33.690
a half, two weeks after she goes missing in the

00:22:33.690 --> 00:22:39.700
timeline. That maybe second phone call where

00:22:39.700 --> 00:22:41.619
she says an ex is trying to break in. In that

00:22:41.619 --> 00:22:44.339
scenario, she's in the apartment while it's happening.

00:22:45.539 --> 00:22:48.319
This, however, police discover it later. And

00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:51.460
the only thing missing, they say, is a warm -up

00:22:51.460 --> 00:22:53.880
suit. So I interpret that as like a track suit.

00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:58.099
Why is that the only thing missing? Why is that

00:22:58.099 --> 00:23:02.299
the thing missing? No money, no cash. A jogging

00:23:02.299 --> 00:23:06.339
suit? Why? I have so many questions around that,

00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:11.559
and I agree. To me, it seems so strange for this

00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:14.920
woman to go missing and then an article of clothing

00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:18.460
be stolen from her apartment and nothing else.

00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:21.740
It seems very suspicious to me and strange that

00:23:21.740 --> 00:23:23.940
they wouldn't be connected. And if they're not

00:23:23.940 --> 00:23:26.559
connected, show me the math on how they're not.

00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:29.160
Like, who did the break -in? And why did they

00:23:29.160 --> 00:23:31.140
do it? And how do you know they had nothing to

00:23:31.140 --> 00:23:33.480
do with the disappearance? Like show me how that

00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:36.299
all works out. Because to me, I have huge questions

00:23:36.299 --> 00:23:39.440
around the break -in. Thank you again for clarifying

00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:44.059
that the two are separate and that one may be

00:23:44.059 --> 00:23:47.160
conflated and kind of does and does not exist

00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:51.920
in the timeline. Certainly not confirmed. I do

00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:55.160
understand that the two are separate and that

00:23:55.160 --> 00:24:00.660
one may not have happened. Even still, after

00:24:00.660 --> 00:24:02.819
a woman goes missing and someone breaks into

00:24:02.819 --> 00:24:07.319
the house and steals something personal, there's

00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:17.440
no link? Come on. What? Like, what? And again,

00:24:17.559 --> 00:24:20.359
where the math doesn't make sense here, with

00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:22.839
how you described her, the way her family described

00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:26.730
her, She does not seem like someone who would

00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:30.369
leave her children behind unprotected with no

00:24:30.369 --> 00:24:35.769
plan. I think in these instances where you are

00:24:35.769 --> 00:24:38.369
maybe trying to run from someone who is causing

00:24:38.369 --> 00:24:42.450
you great harm and or fear, there is often, if

00:24:42.450 --> 00:24:44.750
there can be, a plan in place. Maybe someone

00:24:44.750 --> 00:24:47.390
in your family also knows about it and is helping

00:24:47.390 --> 00:24:52.089
you. I that does not seem like what was happening

00:24:52.089 --> 00:24:54.369
here. And the family, you know, never says anything

00:24:54.369 --> 00:24:57.289
about that. All they say over and over again

00:24:57.289 --> 00:25:00.390
is this is odd. This is outside of her behavior.

00:25:00.789 --> 00:25:04.970
So a lot of things don't add up here. And I really

00:25:04.970 --> 00:25:08.190
hope that with people hearing this case, some

00:25:08.190 --> 00:25:13.250
things start to come to the forefront and we

00:25:13.250 --> 00:25:16.809
can make sense of some of the timeline and just

00:25:16.809 --> 00:25:19.630
justice for her. Yeah, I really hope that we

00:25:19.630 --> 00:25:22.630
can get some energy in Willie -Ann's case and

00:25:22.630 --> 00:25:24.650
get answers for her children, get answers for

00:25:24.650 --> 00:25:28.029
her family. I know her children, you know, they've

00:25:28.029 --> 00:25:29.849
talked about it. They've hired a private investigator

00:25:29.849 --> 00:25:31.509
over the years. They've spent their own money

00:25:31.509 --> 00:25:33.309
trying to figure out what happened to their mother.

00:25:33.369 --> 00:25:38.930
And they still don't have answers. And I agree

00:25:38.930 --> 00:25:43.809
with what you said. And from everything the family

00:25:43.809 --> 00:25:46.930
said, that was... The thing that was most concerning

00:25:46.930 --> 00:25:49.650
is that she would never leave her children. She

00:25:49.650 --> 00:25:51.930
would never abandon them. She would never run

00:25:51.930 --> 00:25:54.569
away without contacting them. Like, so the fact

00:25:54.569 --> 00:25:56.609
that after all these years, she has never reached

00:25:56.609 --> 00:25:59.650
out to her children. She had a son who was in

00:25:59.650 --> 00:26:02.130
the NFL and never reached out, never tried to

00:26:02.130 --> 00:26:06.069
contact. It makes me believe that she's unable

00:26:06.069 --> 00:26:09.069
to contact them. Like, Willie Ann would have

00:26:09.069 --> 00:26:11.269
found a way to get to her children if she could.

00:26:11.789 --> 00:26:14.230
And the fact that she hasn't. after all these

00:26:14.230 --> 00:26:19.369
years is not OK. And somebody needs to answer

00:26:19.369 --> 00:26:22.569
for what happened here. Somebody knows. Somebody

00:26:22.569 --> 00:26:24.730
did something. Somebody made it so that way this

00:26:24.730 --> 00:26:26.750
mother could not get back to her children. And

00:26:26.750 --> 00:26:28.670
they should have to answer for that and have

00:26:28.670 --> 00:26:31.130
to tell her children what happened if they want

00:26:31.130 --> 00:26:33.950
to know what happened. So I really hope we can

00:26:33.950 --> 00:26:36.970
get energy in William's case because it feels

00:26:36.970 --> 00:26:39.750
solvable. It feels like there's some really good

00:26:39.750 --> 00:26:41.750
leads. Police say they don't have any. And it's

00:26:41.750 --> 00:26:43.609
like their feet. There feels like there's some

00:26:43.609 --> 00:26:46.269
good ones here, some good suspects to look into.

00:26:46.569 --> 00:26:50.329
And if police have, let's get that out there.

00:26:50.369 --> 00:26:53.049
Let's say ex -husband, ex -boyfriends have all

00:26:53.049 --> 00:26:55.990
been ruled out. So that way, more people can

00:26:55.990 --> 00:26:58.410
rack their brains and focus somewhere else. Because

00:26:58.410 --> 00:27:01.309
we need answers here. Willie Ann deserves justice.

00:27:01.710 --> 00:27:04.309
And more people should be talking about her case,

00:27:04.349 --> 00:27:07.990
I feel like. So again, if you have any information

00:27:07.990 --> 00:27:10.230
about the disappearance of Willie Ann Rucker,

00:27:30.089 --> 00:27:35.710
As always, I will be providing graphics for Willian's

00:27:35.710 --> 00:27:39.730
case and those will be... on our Instagram at

00:27:39.730 --> 00:27:42.890
Cold and Missing. If you are not following us

00:27:42.890 --> 00:27:45.910
there, please go ahead and give us a follow.

00:27:46.029 --> 00:27:49.230
You can engage with our posts. We post other

00:27:49.230 --> 00:27:53.710
missing person cases, cold cases. We really use

00:27:53.710 --> 00:27:57.609
the platform to do what Cold and Missing is meant

00:27:57.609 --> 00:28:01.130
to do, which is uplift and bring these cases

00:28:01.130 --> 00:28:04.440
to the forefront. And thank you if you have left

00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:07.519
us a review, a comment, if you've shared, gone

00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:10.299
on our website, www .coldandmissing .com to leave

00:28:10.299 --> 00:28:12.420
us a review. We've had so many kind, wonderful,

00:28:12.660 --> 00:28:15.440
generous reviews come in. And I know I've said

00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:17.480
it before, I'm a broken record on this, but those

00:28:17.480 --> 00:28:20.509
five stars. Make somebody who has never listened

00:28:20.509 --> 00:28:23.009
to this podcast before give us a shot, and that

00:28:23.009 --> 00:28:25.769
gets cases like Willie Ann's out there. So thank

00:28:25.769 --> 00:28:28.789
you for doing that. If you haven't, please, I

00:28:28.789 --> 00:28:30.789
hope you consider giving us five stars, leaving

00:28:30.789 --> 00:28:33.650
us a review. It would really help us and these

00:28:33.650 --> 00:28:36.519
cases. so much. So if you have the time today,

00:28:36.660 --> 00:28:39.539
thank you so much. Appreciate it. And if you

00:28:39.539 --> 00:28:41.519
or someone you love is hard of hearing, we do

00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:43.740
have official transcripts on our website, www

00:28:43.740 --> 00:28:46.740
.coldandmissing .com. So if you need those, you

00:28:46.740 --> 00:28:49.220
can follow along there. And it has all of our

00:28:49.220 --> 00:28:51.319
old episodes. If you're looking for the backlog,

00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:54.900
you can find it all there. That is all I have

00:28:54.900 --> 00:28:56.900
for you this week, though. Thank you so much

00:28:56.900 --> 00:28:59.079
for listening to Cold and Missing. I'm your host,

00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:02.460
Ali. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Have a good

00:29:02.460 --> 00:29:05.000
week and stay safe, y 'all. Stay safe y 'all.