YPSILANTI, Mich. – What happened to Marcus Rutledge? The mystery is now the subject of a “Missing in America” true crime podcast episode with Dateline’s Josh Mankiewicz.
Rutledge has been missing since June 8, 1998. He was a 23-year-old student at Tennessee State University. His parents lived in Ypsilanti and he had visited them just a few weeks before he vanished.
His parents thought Rutledge was about to graduate from college, but that turned out not to be true. There were some things going on in his life that he was not telling his family about.
Mankiewicz said that what was true was that Rutledge loved his family and would not have just vanished. There was no evidence of foul play at his apartment, but his dog was locked up. It appears that in the weeks and months before his death he may have had some run ins with people.
His vehicle, a red 1995 Plymouth Neon, 4-door, with Michigan license plate No. PEX755 was recovered from an apartment complex about 20 miles from where he was living. A gun was found in his car.
The Nashville Police Department suspects foul play in this case.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Nashville Police Department at 615-862-8600. The department’s Crime Stoppers division can be contacted at 615-742-7463.