Sandra Rucki

From time to time I will blog about a case that does not involve murder but even if it does not, I am unsure I have blogged about one that was not at least an attempted murder... until now. I could be wrong considering I have blogged nearly five hundred cases but I am pretty sure this one is different. While I have blogged about cases that involve a child custody case, and allegations of abuse but I believe they all ended in either an attempt on a person's life, or a death. That is not the case here. This case is not just the kidnapping of children by a parent, but to also address Parental Alienation which sadly many, including myself have seen first hand.

For those who do not know what parental alienation is, it is the purposeful act of someone, usually a parent, to actively and often successfully “brainwash” a child against their other parent unjustly. This can be done in many ways. It can include things such as threats and intimidation or it can be done through bribery and sympathy. A parent can be successful in convincing a child that they are the only parent that cares for them and feign (or is it real?) being upset when the child shows any sort of affection or caring for the other parent. Of course this most often happens in cases of divorce or parents who are unwed and not living together, but it can happen in any situation. I have seen cases in which this has began while the parents are still together and just continued throughout their lives. I have even seen this attempted on grown adult children although for the most part those are less successful.

David Rucki married his wife, Sandra in 1991. By April of 2011 Sandra had asked for and filed for a divorce from their home in Lakeville Minnesota. It appears that initially Sandra was given full/sole custody of their five children but David would quickly argue that he had been “manipulated” and tricked into signing the papers and he soon filed to amend the divorce, especially pertaining to the children. It was then it appears that Sandra began making allegations of abuse by David, not just to her but to their children, as there was nothing in the initial filing. There was an investigation and as time went on it was speculated that Sandra's abuse claims were false. There seemed to be a real fear that Sandra was now manipulating the children and attempting to not just turn them against their father, but to express to others that David was abusive in her attempts to win custody. At some point the five children were removed from the custody of both David and Sandra and went to live with two of their aunts... each sisters of the couple. By April of 2013 Sandra's sister had decided she was unable to care for the children in her care which included thirteen year old Gianna and her sister, fourteen year old Samantha. David's sister then agreed to take in all the children and they were all reunited on April 19^th. Later that night Gianna and Samantha ran away from their aunts home.

For the next two and a half years it was suspected that Sandra was behind the girls leaving and that she had helped them not just to leave, but to keep them in hiding. Despite a search for them, they could not be found, even though soon after they left the girls did an interview for a local news station claiming that their father was abusive. They also sent a letter to the courts stating the allegations. By November of 2013, with the girls still missing, the judge in the custody case dismissed Sandra's allegations of abuse, accused her of attempting to turn the children against their father and granted him full/sole custody of all five children, including Gianna and Samantha.

Still despite attempts, the girls were no where to be found and police could not prove that Sandra had been involved. For her part Sandra continued to deny that she had helped the girls leave but would also continue her abuse allegations. In October of 2015 though authorities thought they had enough information to arrest her and charge her with the kidnapping of her children. She was held on a million dollar bond likely in the hopes that she would tell where the children were and make a deal for release. While it does not seem that authorities received any cooperation from Sandra or any of her friends, the girls were located a month later.

It had been suspected that Sandra's friend, Dede Evavold was also involved in helping hide the children. Evavold had been, and apparently continues to be, very critical of the custody courts in Minnesota. I cannot be certain when the two women became friends. When questioned by authorities Evavold would claim to not knowing the children at all and suggested that David's parents and sister should be looked at in the case. This case though was made for Dede Evavold. David and Sandra had apparently owned a trucking company together and had been very wealthy. I cannot say for certain what the initial filing granted Sandra aside from custody of the children but I am sure it was more than she received in the end, which has been reported as being literally nothing. For her part Evavold would argue that the courts were siding with David because he had money. She would argue that David was abusive, but to be fair she did not seem to come out with those allegations until she herself was facing jail time much later. Until authorities could prove her involvement she would continue to claim she did not know the girls and express sympathy that David had not seen his children.

To be fair I cannot say exactly on what grounds Sandra was initially arrested in October of 2015 nor can I say for certain that Dede Evavold was arrested at the same time. Soon after her arrest Sandra granted an interview with the television show 20/20. It was on this episode that Sandra “doubled down” on her claims of abuse against David and repeatedly claimed that the police had been to the home several times prior to her divorce filing. She would tell the producer and the host of the show she had multiple papers of documentation proving this when she was confronted and told that the only evidence they could find were reports she made not just after she filed for divorce but after the courts had decided that David was in fact “tricked” into signing the papers. When the show originally began taping the girls had not been found. It was during the time of doing their story that things changed.

It was said that authorities found a picture of the girls on Dede Evavold's phone. They were able to determine that the picture had been taken at a place called White Horse Ranch in Herman Minnesota, some forty minutes away from Lakeville. White Horse Ranch was ran by Doug and Gina Dahlen and was considered to be a place of therapy for children who had suffered from abuse. It was not a residential place apparently, but the couple lived on the farm. On November 18, 2015 authorities went to the ranch and it seems that the Dahlen's openly admitted that the girls were, and had for over two years, living with them.

The Dahlen's would tell them that they knew Dede Evavold and that in April of 2013 she had come to their farm, with Sandra Rucki in tow, bringing the girls to them. They would claim that they initially thought the girls would be there a few weeks and they thought they were protecting the children from their abusive father. They would also claim they had no idea that the girls were being looked for. They stated the girls continued to go by their given names and had been homeschooled on the ranch. They stated that while Sandra had been present when the girls were left at the ranch, with little to nothing, she had only called four or five times in the more two years that the girls were present in their home. They maintained that the girls were always free to leave their home but chose not to. The Dahlen's believed the girls had been abused by their father. Their entire story did not make any sense, but that did not stop them from telling it.

For a while it seems, despite the evidence authorities had against Sandra, she continued to proclaim she had not been involved in their disappearance. As I stated before the television show 20/20 was already in the process of producing a show on this story and they of course re-interviewed Sandra but got much more of the run around from her. In fact, at the end of the show it was announced that despite her repeated claims that there was evidence of abuse prior to her divorce filing the show announced not only could they not find any in public records, that neither Sandra, or her attorney provided them proof. There was evidence that AFTER the filing Sandra had filed for a protective order and had called the police at least twenty times on David. It was also said that David was charged with violating the protective order for contacting a neighbor of Sandra's, but no details were given. In the end four people were charged for being involved, Sandra, Evavold and the Dahlen's faced criminal charges.

The children were not immediately returned to David's care but placed in a true therapy home that promoted reunification with the family. They returned to David's care around Christmas of 2015. He would later say that it took some time but that the children adjusted well.

Most of the sensation surrounding the case revolved around Sandra since she was the parent who obviously had put the wheels in motion, as well as it brought up the issue of parental alienation, so it was a little more difficult to find details of the cases with the others involved. As far as Dede Evavold goes it is unclear if she pleaded guilty or was found guilty by a jury on six counts of deprivation of parental rights. Either way she was sentenced to a prison term of six months.

In July of 2016 Sandra went to trial. We was found guilty of six counts of deprivation of parental rights. Her oldest son and her daughter, Samantha (one of the two she helped hide) testified against her and stated their father was not abusive and that Sandra had tried to turn them on their father. In fairness there are reports, although I am unsure just how legitimate they are that Samantha later said she was scared to testify against her father at the trial. But also remember that only these two girls were any of the five children who claimed abused at all. There were apparently “experts” and psychologists who testified that Sandra had brainwashed the children and likely suffered from a personality disorder. After Sandra was convicted her attorney read a statement saying that she was “paying the price” for protecting her children. Her original sentence was a bit odd. She had spent from October of 2015 until she made bail in February of 2016 (133 days) in the county jail. The judge was going to order her an additional thirty four days in jail as well as six years probation but the kicker was that every year for six years, starting on November 18^th (the anniversary of the day the girls were found) she was to spend fifteen days in jail. That amounted to an additional 90 days total. I had honestly never heard of a sentence such as this. She was also ordered to pay $944 per daughter in restitution. It amounted to one dollar each for ever day they were gone. Apparently however, she was given the option to instead to all of her jail time at once and was sentenced to “up to” 233 days. An article stated this meant she could be out in five months with good behavior. She did not do that much time though. I am unsure just when she was released but there was a report in November of 2016 that she had been arrested for violating her parole as she had not checked in with her parole officer or report a change of address. I can only assume this was settled quickly.

Now, whether she was still in the county jail in September of 2016 but it seems likely that she was not because she filed a harassment order against a local journalist who had been following her story. She claimed that the journalist had all but stalked her and reported her comings and going and in her original claim described the vehicle she claimed he was driving. She apparently got the order against the journalist but according to the journalist this was partly due to the fact that he was not given notice prior to the judge seeing it. The journalist argued that the only instance in which she reported in the filing that was true was that he was at the courthouse when she was released. He likely rightly pointed out that he was not alone that day as several journalists were there. He argued that the vehicle described in the filing did not describe his vehicle at all. But, Sandra and her supporters still argue that he was “stalking” her. There were also reports that around this same time period Sandra, through her attorney's were attempting to block the re-airing of the 20/20 episode on the case. Her claim (as well as those from her supporters) was that the show was untruthful. For those on the other side they believe Sandra fought against the re-airing because not just that she looked bad, but that she had made herself look bad when things she said were proven to be false.

When it came to Doug and Gina Dahlen things seemed a bit less clear. They did apparently plead guilty to ONE count of deprivation of parental rights, the same charges Sandra and Evavold faced. It appears that they each got two years probation and were fined $10,000 (although some reports tend to make it seem as if Sandra got this fine but most agree it was only the Dahlen's) that was to be paid to the Minnesota Crime Victims Reparation Board. They were the ones that provided the girls the resources they need to reunify with their family.

It appears that this argument as to just what happened and if what happened was fair will continue to go on. There are several Facebook pages devoted to Sandra and telling “her” story. Just as I do not expect readers to take every word I say as the be all, end all, and should be looked into deeper, those site should be also. Opinions are expressed and often things are stated as facts, that may not in fact be so. There are arguments that supposedly there was evidence of David being abusive prior to the initial divorce filing but again, it seems no one has seen this “proof.” One would think after all this time that even if the court wouldn't listen as Sandra and her supporters claim if someone could not find it through public records (which it should be) that she would have handed the proof over to the media. That has not happened. If in fact they are saying this “proof” was things that happened after the initial filing, including David violating the protective order, and the court denied their right to show them I have to agree with the courts. If the only evidence of abuse was alleged only after Sandra had been accused of tricking David into signing an agreement and a custody battle ensued the in my opinion the courts were right in denying this. Her supporters also claim that Sandra received “absolutely nothing” in the divorce including the business, home, property...etc. They claim David is a multi-millionaire and yet Sandra has been ordered to pay $975 a month in child support to her children. If in fact what the supporters have said about this is true then I have to say I agree with them. According the supporters the courts have told Sandra that this amount of child support is based on what her earning capacity was basically at the time of the divorce. Supporters argue that now with a felony on her record her earning capacity has significantly lowered. As I said, if the courts have done this and continue to state this then I would agree with the supporters but changes have to be made at a higher level than simple supporters. If in fact, she has not attempted to change the order, proving she cannot earn the money in which she was originally accessed with then I have less sympathy for her. One cannot sit and complain about injustices done to them if they do not do anything to fight back or anything to fix them.