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| Rusch,Christine missing June 26,1989; Kansas | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 18 2006, 02:57 PM (973 Views) | |
| oldies4mari2004 | Aug 18 2006, 02:57 PM Post #1 |
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Unregistered
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http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/rusch_christine.html |
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| oldies4mari2004 | Dec 31 2006, 11:50 PM Post #2 |
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Unregistered
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Christine Rusch Above: Rusch, circa 1989 Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance Missing Since: June 26, 1989 from Lenexa, Kansas Classification: Endangered Missing Age: 22 years old Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Details of Disappearance Rusch and her roommate, Theresa Brown, were last seen in their apartment at Trafalgar Square in Lenexa, Kansas on June 25, 1989. The following day, Rusch called Brown's employer and her own to state they would not be appearing at work, as both of them were feeling sick. Neither woman has been heard from again. On June 28, authorities found Richard Grissom Jr.'s car, packed with his belongings, outside of an apartment in Grandview, Kansas. Brown and Rusch's jewelry and credit cards were in the vehicle, as was the key to their apartment and the apartment of another local missing woman, Joan Butler. Grissom operated a painting company and, as a result, had master keys to many apartment complexes in the area. Grissom was arrested in Texas on July 7, 1989. In 1990, he was convicted of murdering Brown, Rusch and Butler. Grissom, who was also convicted of eight charges related to the murders, was sentenced to four life terms in prison; he will not be eligible for parole until 2095. He is also a suspect in at least two other murders, but he has not been charged in those cases. Despite extensive searches, none of the missing women have ever been found. Dan Mitrione wrote about them in a book entitled Suddenly Gone - The Kansas Murders of Serial Killer Richard Grissom. Investigating Agency If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Lenexa Police Department 913-477-7330 Source Information The Doe Network The Wichita Eagle The Kansas City Star Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated January 5, 2006; casefile added. Charley Project Home |
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| Ell | Feb 4 2007, 04:40 PM Post #3 |
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Heart of Gold
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POLICE SEARCH AT AREA LAKE FOR 3 VICTIMS Kirk Kahler, J-W Staff Writer Friday, November 17, 1989 Johnson County authorities were conducting a search today at Clinton Lake for the bodies of three suburban Kansas City women who have been missing since June and are presumed dead. Lt. Dave Burger of the Lenexa Police Department, said this morning that five members and a specially trained search dog from his department, two members of the Overland Park Police Department and about 25 members of the Johnson County police academy recruiting class were searching a 100-acre area on the east side of the lake below the dam. Burger said his department, acting on a telephone tip, searched the same area of the lake in late September, but heavy leaves and grassy conditions hampered the effort. Today's search was an effort to uncover anything that might have been missed in the earlier search, he said. The telephone tip came from someone who thought they saw a car in the area that matched the description of one driven by Richard Grissom Jr., who was charged in Johnson County District Court on Aug. 16 with first-degree murder in connection with the disappearances of the three suburban Kansas City women. Grissom has been connected to the disappearances of Joan Butler, 24, Overland Park, and Lenexa roommates Theresa Brown and Christine Rusch, both 22. He also is suspected in the June 7 death of Terri Maness, 25, Wichita. In addition to the murders, Grissom has been charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping, four counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated burglary, one count of burglary and one count of theft. He is being held in the Johnson County Jail on $1 million bond. He was to appear at 2 p.m. today for a preliminary hearing, but a representative of the district attorney's office said Grissom's attorney was expected to ask for a continuance. The search began about 9:30 a.m. and was expected to conclude later today, Burger said. http://www2.ljworld.com/news/1989/nov/17/p..._at_area/?print |
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Ell Only after the last tree has been cut down; Only after the last fish has been caught; Only after the last river has been poisoned; Only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten. | |
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| Ell | Feb 4 2007, 04:43 PM Post #4 |
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Heart of Gold
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GRISSOM TO BE TRIED IN 3 MURDERS Friday, March 2, 1990 Olathe — A man accused of killing three suburban women whose bodies have never been found was bound over today for trial on three counts of first-degree murder and other charges. Johnson County District Judge Robert Jones made the finding during a brief hearing that followed four days of evidence at a preliminary hearing for Richard Grissom Jr. Grissom, 29, was ordered to return to court March 14 for arraignment. Grissom, a house painter, faces a dozen charges in connection with the death and disappearance of Joan A. Butler, 24, of Overland Park, and Theresa Brown, 22, and Christine Rusch, 22, both of Lenexa and roommates. The three women disappeared last summer. In addition to the murder charges, Grissom was charged with aggravated kidnapping, four counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated burglary, burglary and theft. The judge today reduced the four aggravated robbery charges to simple robbery and made what Dist. Atty. Paul Morrison termed slight modifications in two of the murder charges. GRISSOM had been accused in all three cases with committing murder in the act of burglary and kidnapping, but Jones removed the kidnapping alternative in the Brown and Butler cases. Morrison said he did not expect the change to have a significant effect on his case. ``We're pleased to have the defendant bound over on all 12 counts,'' Morrison said. Andrew Warren, an assistant public defender for Grissom, declined comment on the judge's ruling except to say ``nothing that happened this week surprised us.'' An FBI agent testified at the preliminary hearing Thursday that Grissom initially denied that he knew anything about the three women when he was captured last July in Dallas but eventually said police ``would dig them up'' someday in Kansas. Grissom was spotted June 25 in Lawrence by a Lawrence police officer, but eluded capture. MIKE NAPIER, an FBI agent in the Kansas City bureau, interviewed Grissom in Texas. At the end of their conversation, Napier testified that Grissom told him ``I can give you everything.'' Morrison concluded four days of testimony in the Grissom case Thursday. Prosecutors were trying to prove there is enough evidence against Grissom for a trial. ``Considering the evidence, coupled with the statements this man made in police custody, I find it laughable to even be arguing about whether the girls are dead,'' Morrison said in his closing remarks. Warren said Morrison failed to prove the women had been killed. Warren said Morrison based his case on ``inference after inference after inference.'' Napier testified that Grissom ``virtually conceded'' knowledge about the deaths and whereabouts of the three women. GRISSOM was asked whether he killed the women. ``I couldn't do it,'' Grissom told Napier and Leawood Detective Joe Langer. ``If I was going to kill somebody, I would kill my parents.'' Napier testified that Grissom said he did not believe the girls were dead. ``At one point he paused,'' Napier testified. ``He said, `They probably are now.' He said we would probably dig them up.'' Napier also testified that Grissom said he knew that Missouri had the death penalty and Kansas did not and that investigators would not find anything in Missouri. http://www2.ljworld.com/news/1990/mar/02/g...be_tried/?print |
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Ell Only after the last tree has been cut down; Only after the last fish has been caught; Only after the last river has been poisoned; Only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten. | |
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| Ell | Feb 4 2007, 05:20 PM Post #5 |
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Heart of Gold
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FAMILIES STILL HOPE TO FIND WHAT HAPPENED TO MURDERED DAUGHTERS Ric Anderson, J-W Staff Writer Friday, September 17, 1993 The answer, they believe, lies somewhere in the Lansing Correctional Facility, entrenched behind the bars that will likely keep inmate No. 33728 away from society for the rest of his life. David and Judy Rusch, Ralph and Jada Butler and Harold and Bobby Brown say the secret will die there unless Richard Grissom, the inmate, breaks his silence on the question that's haunted them since the summer of 1989: What happened to our daughters? The justice system's answer was that Grissom robbed and then killed the women, Joan Butler, 24, Overland Park, and Christine Rusch and Theresa Brown, both 22, both of Lenexa. In November 1990, Grissom was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and eight other charges of robbery, kidnapping, burglary and theft. Since then, authorities have continued to search for the women's bodies, tracking down occasional tips but always coming up empty. "Oh, it's certainly not" a closed case, said Johnson County Sheriff Fred Allenbrand. "The case will never be closed until we find the bodies or get an explanation." For a time, Allenbrand said, authorities thought the explanation could be found in Lawrence or Douglas County. Grissom, who often stayed with friends in Lawrence, was seen here nine days after Joan Butler was reported missing. After seeing Grissom running away from a car that had been rented by Ms. Butler, a Lawrence officer followed Grissom to an apartment and tried to question him. Grissom gave the officer a driver's license, then ran away. He was arrested that July at the Dallas airport by FBI agents who lured him there with the help of an old girlfriend. Allenbrand said officials in Johnson and Douglas counties received tips that the bodies were hidden somewhere near Lawrence. Two of the largest local searches were at Clinton Lake, where teams combed a 100-acre area in early September and November. David Rusch, Bobby Brown and Jada Butler said they occasionally get calls from authorities who have received new information about the crimes. "We get a lot of psychic things," said Mrs. Brown, who lives in Benton, Mo. "And we've heard rumors. They follow them up, just out of chances that they might find something." Jada Butler, of Wichita, said that not knowing what happened to her daughter is maddening. She deals with the mystery, she said, by refusing to allow herself to speculate. "You know she's gone. You know he did it. You can't dwell on thoughts of anything else," she said. Tragically, the families were brought together by the deaths. David Rusch said the families write and call each other, pay visits when they're in town and schedule get-togethers that have included detectives and Johnson County Dist. Atty. Paul Morrison. He said the bond was built on shared trauma, "probably like people who've gone through Vietnam." The families also are united in their hope that Grissom is never released from prison. "My hope is possibly while he's in there, he'll contract AIDS," Bobby Brown said. "But I don't have a hatred for him. I have no feelings for him whatsoever." In November 1992, the Kansas Supreme Court upheld the convictions in a ruling on a Grissom appeal. Under Kansas law, Grissom must serve more than 100 years before he is eligible for parole. Spokesmen for Johnson County District Court and the Johnson County district attorney's office said Grissom had filed no appeals since losing his case in the supreme court. But the murders continue to fuel court action. The Rusch and Brown families have sued the owners and managers of a Lenexa apartment complex where Grissom was a painter. The lawsuit alleges Grissom killed the women while employed by the complex and that apartment managers were negligent in hiring and retaining him. Testimony at his trial showed that Grissom had been given a pass key that opened most of the apartments. David Rusch said the families were awaiting separate trials. If everything goes right, he said, the trial could lead to more than a favorable verdict. "I don't think Grissom is going to say or do anything until the lawsuits are settled," he said. "When that happens, we may find out more." http://www2.ljworld.com/news/1993/sep/17/f..._hope_to/?print |
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Ell Only after the last tree has been cut down; Only after the last fish has been caught; Only after the last river has been poisoned; Only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten. | |
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| Ell | Feb 4 2007, 05:23 PM Post #6 |
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Heart of Gold
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SEARCH FOR DEAD RESUMES AT PARK By Deb Gruver Tuesday, August 17, 1999 Investigators continue to search for the bodies of Richard Grissom Jr.'s murder victims. A grassy field at Clinton Lake State Park again is the focus of a 10-year-old investigation into the presumed murders of three Kansas City-area women. Richard Grissom Jr. was convicted in 1990 of murdering three women in the summer of 1989. The bodies of Joan A. Butler, 24, Overland Park, and Theresa Brown, 22, and Christine Rusch, 22, both of Lenexa and roommates at the time of their abductions, never have been found. A team of scientists, academics and homicide investigators searched the 200-acre area from Thursday to Sunday evening, trying to bring closure to the investigation, said Sgt. Pat Hinkle of the Lenexa Police Department. "We have always known that field was a hot field," Hinkle said. "Unfortunately we didn't know about it until about six months after the abductions. We believe it to be credible information." Investigators don't know if all three women are buried in the field. Grissom has talked about burying from one to three women there, Hinkle said. The police department has been working with Necrosearch, a private company that assists in locating bodies, the sergeant said. Hinkle has spent a lot of time at the field, situated off Douglas County Road 458 southeast of the Clinton Lake dam. When Hinkle first was tipped about the field -- by a woman who lived down the road and who had written down a tag number from a brown Toyota she saw about the time of the murders -- "I about went through the ceiling," he said. "It was a stolen tag from another attempted abduction," he said. "It was a big lead. We searched and searched that field from that point on." Media interest in the case always has been strong, and one of the early searches was filmed by Kansas City-area TV crews. The coverage later proved to be a breakthrough for investigators. When Grissom saw the footage, Hinkle said, he told an inmate: "Hinkle's so close. He's so close, he could almost reach out and touch where the graves are." "I've been back to the field," Hinkle said Monday. "My kids have been in that field. My wife has been in that field." Hinkle said the most recent search was sparked by fresh information about the site. Though bodies weren't found this time either, Hinkle said there were some encouraging "indicators" that will result in more searching at in the field at a future date not yet determined. "We did find some indications that we felt were very positive," he said. "We did an archaeological dig there. We could not explain why we had so many indications in one area. It's hard to reconcile some of these indicators." Hinkle declined to go into detail about what "indicators" means. Grissom, 38, is eligible for parole Sept. 28, 2071, according to Kansas Department of Corrections spokesman Bill Miskell. The former house painter was sentenced Nov. 20, 1990 on three first-degree murder charges as well as others, including aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary. -- Deb Gruver's phone message number is 832-7165. Her e-mail address is dgruver@ljworld.com. http://www2.ljworld.com/news/1999/aug/17/s..._resumes/?print |
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Ell Only after the last tree has been cut down; Only after the last fish has been caught; Only after the last river has been poisoned; Only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten. | |
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| monkalup | Mar 25 2007, 11:24 PM Post #7 |
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The Old Heifer! An oxymoron, of course.
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http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightUSA/...topic=1698&st=0 |
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Lauran "If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. | |
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| Ell | Jun 30 2009, 06:49 PM Post #8 |
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Heart of Gold
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20 Years Later, Killer Refuses to Reveal Bodies' Location Monday , June 29, 2009 OLATHE, Kan. — Twenty years later, the secret remains locked away in a killer's mind. The motive for his silence is as mysterious as the final fate of three young Johnson County women unfortunate enough to cross paths with Richard Grissom Jr. that June two decades ago. The shockingly random crimes targeted young women with no known connections to their killer. New victims vanished even as police scrambled to hunt down Grissom. A pall of fear blanketed the city for nearly three weeks — until authorities cornered Grissom at a Dallas airport after he attempted to coax another young woman to meet him there. In his wake he left a trail of evidence that linked him to the missing women. But his criminal carelessness did not extend to their bodies. No trace of Joan Butler, Christine Rusch and Theresa Brown has been found. Grissom never has revealed how he chose them, how he killed them or what he did with them. For the women's families, the silence is a final and ongoing act of evil. "He's arrogant," said Jim Brown, Theresa's brother. "In his little pea brain he still thinks someday he's going to use this bargaining chip to benefit himself." For the law-enforcement authorities who put Grissom in prison for the rest of his life, that success is tempered by one lingering, haunting question: Where are the women? "His only claim to fame is that people are still interested in what happened to them," said former FBI special agent Mike Napier. "He's hiding behind them. He's a real coward." ——— Joan Butler was 24 and ambitious. Following her father's career path, she graduated from the University of Kansas with a red more than an apartment. They were born on the same day. Brown, a cheerleader and prom queen at Camdenton, Mo., High School, worked as a dental assistant and planned to become a dental hygienist. Rusch, a Shawnee Mission South High School graduate, worked in retail marketing at the North Kansas City optics company owned by her father. On the morning of June 26, she called in sick for both herself and Brown. No friend, relative or co-worker ever spoke to either woman again. With two more families reporting missing women, law enforcement officials geared up what was to be one of the most extensive criminal investigations in Johnson County's history. Grissom, 28, was handsome and athletically built and dated numerous women. He owned a small painting and maintenance company that contracted with large apartment complexes around the area. The job gave him key access to hundreds of apartments. He was also a career criminal on parole for burglary and theft. At age 16, he had killed a Lansing, Kan., woman. He had connections to a Wichita woman found dead in her apartment about two weeks before Butler disappeared. Someone had viciously mutilated the body of 25-year-old Terri Maness. Dozens of officers on both sides of the state joined the investigation. A day after the roommates vanished, authorities found Grissom's car abandoned at a Grandview apartment complex. Identification cards belonging to Rusch and Brown were inside, along with keys to the women's apartments. Acting on tips from the public, police searched areas of southern Johnson County, around and in Longview Lakee Grissom may have been familiar. As the search continued, prosecutors began preparing for Johnson County's first murder trial without a victim's body. The fall 1990 trial proved to be one of the biggest and most complex in Kansas history. Officials summoned a jury pool of 600 because of the massive pretrial publicity. They also sequestered the jury, the first time that had been done in Johnson County. Prosecutors called about 100 witnesses. The plethora of circumstantial evidence coupled with the things Grissom said during his interrogation convinced jurors he was guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and associated crimes. Under the maximum, consecutive sentences imposed by the judge, Grissom will not be eligible for parole until 2093. He did not respond to written requests for comment for this story. ——— Ralph Butler doubts his daughter's remains will be found, even if Grissom talks. Too much time has passed, he figures. And even if she is found, he doesn't want to know how she died. "I don't want any gruesome details," he said. To this day, Bobby Brown pays close attention whenever she hears news about a body or other human remains being found. Like Ralph Butler, she doesn't think her daughter will be located, though she hopes it will happen. "I'd like to have someplace to lay flowers on Memorial Day," she said. David Rusch doesn't think Grissom will reveal his secrets unless he can benefit from it. And even if Grissom talks, Rusch doubts he could be believed. "Just another piped-up jail story," Rusch said. After the trial, Joan Butler's co-workers and families held a memorial service. Ralph Butler remembers that the sermon's theme was forgiveness. He didn't have it in him then and he doesn't now. Bobby Brown said she simply had no feelings toward Grissom. "I can't hate anybody," she said. "But forgive? That's hard to do." The friendships forged in the shared tragedies have endured. They remain in touch, and the Brown and Rusch families gather annually to commemorate their daughters' shared birthday. But with time, their circle has gotten smaller. Theresa's father, Harold Brown, died three years ago. Judy Rusch, Christine's mother, died earlier this year. The families have honored their daughters' memories in different ways. The Butlers fund a scholarship at Joan's alma mater, the University of Kansas. The Browns do the same through Theresa's high school. And the Ruschs have contributed money to Safehome and the Ronald McDonald house in Christine's name. As much as they would like to have the case's final question answered, none of the family members or police officers involved thinks Grissom should receive consideration for providing it. Napier said Grissom just doesn't have it in him to empathize with others. "If he had a typewriter, the letter 'I' would be worn off," Napier said. http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_st...,529446,00.html |
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Ell Only after the last tree has been cut down; Only after the last fish has been caught; Only after the last river has been poisoned; Only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten. | |
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7:56 PM Jul 10