Dateline Missing in America - Ep. 15: Missing in Music City

Summary

Dateline Originals: Missing in Music City – A Comprehensive Summary

Introduction

In Episode 15 of Dateline Missing in America, titled "Missing in Music City," NBC News delves into the perplexing 1998 disappearance of Marcus Rutledge from Nashville, Tennessee. Hosted by David Rutledge, Marcus’s father, the episode unravels the complex web surrounding his vanishing and the enduring quest for answers by his family.

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I. Marcus Rutledge: A Promising Young Life

Marcus Rutledge was a vibrant young man, deeply rooted in his family and academic pursuits. Raised in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Marcus and his sister Felicia attended Tennessee State University (TSU) in Nashville, a historically Black university renowned for producing distinguished alumni like Oprah Winfrey.

Felicia Rutledge reminisces, “Growing up, Marcus was a vivacious baby” (03:23), highlighting his energetic and personable nature. Marcus was not only academically proficient but also socially active, often going out of his way to help others, such as holding doors open for elderly churchgoers.

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II. The Disappearance: June 8, 1998

The Rutledge family’s hopes were dashed when Marcus vanished on June 8, 1998, a month before his graduation. Marcus was last seen by his girlfriend, Tawanya, who reported that he failed to meet a planned meeting and subsequently became unreachable.

David Rutledge states, “Marcus was keeping certain things from them” (23:10), suggesting underlying issues that may have contributed to his disappearance.

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III. Initial Investigation and Suspicious Findings

Investigators found Marcus’s 1995 Plymouth Neon with Michigan plates at Riverwood Apartments, over 20 miles from his apartment—a location seemingly unconnected to him. Inside the car, a handgun was discovered, raising questions about Marcus’s involvement in activities beyond his family's knowledge.

Detective Matthew Filter explains, “There was no indication that anything had happened” (10:05), indicating no immediate signs of foul play at the scene. However, the presence of the handgun hinted at potential dangers Marcus might have been entangled in.

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IV. The Murder of Ethan Gibbs: A Dark Turn

Adding complexity to the case, Marcus’s best friend, Ethan Gibbs, was found murdered in February 1999. Gibbs had assisted Tawanya in searching Marcus’s apartment on the night of his disappearance. His untimely death deepened the mystery, though no definitive connection between the two cases was established.

Felicia Rutledge reflects, “Maybe there was another reason” (18:57), pondering the possible links between Marcus and Ethan’s predicaments.

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V. Unveiling Hidden Truths: Marcus’s Secret Life

A breakthrough came in 2020 when Detective Filter reopened the case, uncovering that Marcus had dropped out of TSU and was involved in the sale of marijuana. This revelation painted a different picture of Marcus, suggesting he was grappling with responsibilities beyond his years, including caring for two young children—Darius and Jayla.

Valencia Bryant, Marcus’s ex-girlfriend, shares, “We kept running into each other on campus” (05:18), underscoring the depth of their relationship and the unforeseen challenges they faced together.

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VI. Family’s Perseverance and Enduring Hope

Despite years passing without concrete answers, the Rutledge family has remained steadfast in their search for Marcus. Unexplained phone calls hint at Marcus’s possible attempts to reach out, though their meaning remains ambiguous.

Felicia Rutledge emphasizes, “We don't care now about whether anybody's brought to justice. We just want to understand and have some kind of closure” (32:58), encapsulating the family's longing for resolution over retribution.

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VII. Current Efforts and Call to Action

Detective Filter continues to pursue leads, driven by the family's unwavering hope that Marcus may still be alive. The case remains open, with the Rutledges urging anyone with information to come forward.

Detective Matthew Filter expresses his commitment, “I'd like to hope that would certainly be my goal would be to solve it” (33:35), highlighting the relentless pursuit of truth.

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Conclusion

"Missing in Music City" paints a poignant portrait of a family grappling with uncertainty and loss. Through heartfelt interviews and meticulous investigation details, Dateline Originals sheds light on the enduring mystery of Marcus Rutledge's disappearance, honoring his memory and the family's relentless pursuit of answers.

If you have any information regarding Marcus Rutledge's disappearance, please contact the Metro Nashville Police Department Cold Case Unit at 615-862-7329 or visit datelinemissinginamerica.com.

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Key Contributors

• Producer: Keanu Reed
• Audio Editor: Bruce Berger
• Senior Producer: Bradley Davis
• Executive Producer: Paul Ryan
• Senior Executive Producer: Liz Cole
• Audio Sound Mixing: Bob Mallory
• Audio Production Head: Bryson Barnes

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This summary is based on the transcript provided and adheres to the guidelines of excluding non-content sections such as advertisements and promos.

Transcript

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Friday night on an all new Dateline, a rich businessman killed in his own bed.

[Valencia Bryant]

This is unbelievable.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Can police untangle a web of possible suspects?

[Valencia Bryant]

Lance had a secret life.

[Felicia Rutledge]

Multiple secret lives. Yes.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

An all new dateline, Friday at 9, 8 Central, only on NBC.

[David Rutledge]

College is such a special time for any young adult, filled with new experiences and new relationships. Sometimes where you go is also where you find out who you are and what you want out of the world. For Marcus Rutledge, that place of discovery was Tennessee State University in Nashville. David Rutledge is his dad.

[Felicia Rutledge]

It's a special place, a place where not only academic learning takes place, but also social learning.

[David Rutledge]

Home of the Tigers, TSU is a historically black university and counts Oprah Winfrey among its most famous alumni. Marcus proudly wore his royal blue and white. And for good reason. For the Rutledges, TSU is a family affair. Both his parents went there, and when Marcus started as a freshman, his sister Felicia was a sophomore. Back then, she had some big sister advice.

[Jerry Rutledge]

I remember when he first registered and my mom was like, oh, you should take an 8:00 class. And I told him, you do not want to take an 8am class.

[David Rutledge]

In the spring of 1998, Marcus was set to graduate. And the family was excited to see their youngest son wear that cap and gown. Except that never happened, because on June 8, 1998, Marcus Rutledge disappeared. And for 26 years, his family has been living with that mystery. It's possible that at the time he disappeared, he was involved with people that you didn't know anything about. I'm not going to say keeping a secret from you, but that he just wasn't talking about.

[Felicia Rutledge]

I wonder whether or not Marcus was actually into something that was bigger than he was and he was actually trying to get away just to leave and leave no trace.

[David Rutledge]

I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Dateline. Missing in America. This episode is Missing in Music City. Please listen closely because you or someone you know might have information that could help solve this case and give Marcus family the answers they are desperately looking for. You think there's a chance Marcus is still alive and still out there somewhere?

[Jerry Rutledge]

Absolutely.

[David Rutledge]

Life for Marcus, of course, didn't start on the buzzing campus of Tennessee State. His parents, David and Jerry, raised him and his sister in Ypsilanti, Michigan, just a few miles east of Ann Arbor. Tell me about Marcus.

[Felicia Rutledge]

Growing up, Marcus was a vivacious baby.

[David Rutledge]

That's Marcus and Felicia's father, David.

[Felicia Rutledge]

His mom, who was an elementary school teacher, she would constantly be in conversation with his teacher who said, you know, they may be having a lesson, and he'd get up and kind of move around the classroom, and she'd have to get him back in his seat. He was an active little guy. Other than that, his grades were always good.

[David Rutledge]

Felicia also remembers her brother as a ball of energy. Only two and a half years apart, they were as close as can be. Was he the annoying younger brother, or were you guys kind of partners in crime?

[Jerry Rutledge]

I think we might have been partners in crime. My parents used to go out of town, and they would leave us at the house. You know, we were teenagers, and, boy, we'd be waiting for that time. We'd have our. Our friends over to the house, of course.

[David Rutledge]

Like the second your parents left?

[Jerry Rutledge]

Like the second my parents left.

[David Rutledge]

For the most part, Marcus made Felicia's job easy. She says he was always a polite kid with a good head on his shoulders.

[Jerry Rutledge]

When we would go to church, he made sure he held the door open for the, you know, elderly ladies of the church. He had a really good, respectable, genuine, kind heart about himself.

[David Rutledge]

By 1994, Marcus was all grown up and off to join his big sister at Tennessee State. They spent a couple of years at the school together before Felicia moved back to Michigan to finish her studies there.

[Jerry Rutledge]

I remember constantly calling him to make sure he went to class. As far as I knew, he was attending his classes. Had a lot of friends at Tennessee State. Met a young lady there who we've had the privilege of meeting.

[David Rutledge]

That young lady's name is Valencia Bryant.

[Valencia Bryant]

We met and just kept running into each other on campus, and eventually he spoke.

[David Rutledge]

Valencia says she and Marcus connected instantly during their freshman year.

[Valencia Bryant]

He was a jokester, always smiling, always laughing. Just goofy, silly. Everybody liked being around Marcus.

[David Rutledge]

The campus romance quickly turned seriously. Just months into their relationship, Valencia became pregnant. Mother and father were both only 18.

[Valencia Bryant]

And it was scary, but I was also excited and very happy, and he seemed to be, too. Like. When the initial shock wore off, Marcus.

[David Rutledge]

Was also worried about what his parents might think. He waited as long as he could to tell them. But when he came home to Michigan for the summer, he mustered the courage with a little help.

[Jerry Rutledge]

He did take a shot of alcohol before he had the conversation with them.

[David Rutledge]

That was a little bit of Dutch courage. Before informing his parents that they're now grandparents.

[Jerry Rutledge]

Yes. And they immediately asked him to. Hey, get the young lady on the phone. Get the parents on the phone.

[David Rutledge]

That's how the Rutledges learned Valencia had just given birth to their grandson Darius.

[Jerry Rutledge]

I believe the next Week we were.

[David Rutledge]

Down there seeing the baby.

[Jerry Rutledge]

Seeing the baby.

[David Rutledge]

Parenting is tough at any age, but for two teenagers in college, the challenges add up quickly. Valencia says she left school and moved back home to Knoxville so her parents could help out. Marcus stayed at TSU and would travel back and forth.

[Valencia Bryant]

He did the best he could at our age and as a college student and us being in two different locations, always checked on Darius, always wanted to make sure he was okay.

[David Rutledge]

Phylicia says her brother was determined to be the best dad he could be.

[Jerry Rutledge]

Every moment he got, he would spend that moment with Darius. I mean, birthdays, holidays.

[David Rutledge]

By June 1998, Darius 4th birthday was just a month away. At that point, Marcus and Valencia were no longer a couple, but they were co parenting Darius.

[Valencia Bryant]

We actually went our separate ways very early on, but stayed very, very close. Always talked if I needed something. And we were planning a huge birthday carnival birthday party for him.

[David Rutledge]

Then on June 8, 1998, the Rutledges received a phone call. At that point, Marcus had a different girlfriend named Tawanya. She told them she and Marcus planned to meet earlier that day, but he never showed, and now she couldn't reach him. Phylicia vividly remembers that call.

[Jerry Rutledge]

I was in my room at the time, and I remember my mom saying, well, I tell you what, you know, we'll try to reach him ourselves. And so I go into the room and I asked my parents, what's going on?

[David Rutledge]

Felicia instantly started trying to reach Marcus herself.

[Jerry Rutledge]

I called him up, calling his cell phone, no answer. Up until like 3, 4, 5 o'clock in the morning, no answer.

[David Rutledge]

Was it customary that when you would call him, he would pick up or he would get right back to you?

[Jerry Rutledge]

Oh, yeah, he almost always picked up.

[Felicia Rutledge]

For me, I've never not been able to get Marcus. When I tried to reach him, the.

[David Rutledge]

Family reached out to Valencia, too.

[Valencia Bryant]

I got a phone call from his dad asking if I had spoke to him recently. I was like, no, not, you know, in a few days. Is everything okay?

[David Rutledge]

Everything was not okay. As the Rutledges kept calling their sons, other friends, Marcus's girlfriend Tawanya called them back.

[Felicia Rutledge]

She called us to say, have you heard anything? And we still haven't. And she said, I want to go over to his apartment and check. And that started a series of events where she gets another person involved. The two of them go over, and they essentially break in a window.

[David Rutledge]

The Rutledges say Marcus had recently moved out of an apartment he'd shared with his best friend and into his own place in Nashville. Tawanya called that friend, Ethan Gibbs, to help her get into his new apartment. Together, they broke Marcus window and climbed through looking to find any sign of him. Tawanya called the Rutledges back with news both good and bad.

[Felicia Rutledge]

The place doesn't look ransacked, but it does look like nobody's been there for a while. And the dog? Marcus had a dog, a Rockweller. The dog was in the bathroom with the door closed and had been in there long enough to ingest part of the rug, floor rug that was in there.

[David Rutledge]

So the dog was left essentially without food or water. And that didn't sound like Marcus.

[Felicia Rutledge]

That wouldn't be him.

[David Rutledge]

All of it led Tawanya to call police that night.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

His girlfriend reported him missing at 7:35pm she is the last known person to have seen him or even spoken to him.

[David Rutledge]

That's Detective Matthew Filter. He's a cold case detective for the Metro Nashville Police Department. His colleagues interviewed Tawanya.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

His girlfriend last saw him that morning when he was leaving her place. She did speak to him later on that afternoon, about 1:30pm and then she tried to call him a few times later that afternoon and left him voicemail messages. He never responded to the voicemail and never answered the phone.

[David Rutledge]

Investigators at the time looked at Marcus apartment. Any sign that a struggle happened there or that a murder happened there or anything happened there?

[Detective Matthew Filter]

There was no indication that anything had happened.

[David Rutledge]

So no signs of foul play. Investigators checked with family, friends, hospitals, even jails. No trace of Marcus. Valencia says it made no sense to her.

[Valencia Bryant]

He got really real within a day or two because I'm like, something's wrong, you know, he does not do this.

[David Rutledge]

None of this was like Marcus. He would never leave his dog unattended. He would never ignore the phone calls of family and friends. And he would never leave his son behind.

[Valencia Bryant]

If it has anything to do with our child, he is only they looked.

[David Rutledge]

For Marcus and for answers. Some of the things police were about to find raised more questions.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

There was a handgun recovered from the car and that was possibly Marcus's.

[David Rutledge]

Why would Marcus be carrying a gun?

[Josh Mankiewicz]

MSNBC Films presents a new four part series from NBC News studios that exposes the injustices of wrongful killing convictions. The Sing sing Chronicles first two episodes premiere tomorrow at 9:00pm Eastern on MSNBC.

[Jenna Bush Hager]

Hey everyone, it's Jenna Bush Hager from Today with Hoda and Jenna reminding you to check out my podcast Open Book with Jenna. Each episode I get to have inspiring conversations with celebrities, authors, fellow book lovers and more. In this week's episode, I sit down with Emmy award winning actress and singer Kiki Palmer to talk about how she navigated fame at a young age and how she's embraced who she truly is. You can listen to this conversation now by searching Open Book with Jenna Wherever you get your podcasts, Black Friday is.

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[David Rutledge]

When a loved one goes missing, it is natural to bring your mind back to the moment you last saw them, touch them, said goodbye. Maybe you missed something, a sign, anything that could explain such a sudden disappearance. For Felicia and David, that moment was Memorial Day weekend, 1998. Marcus told his family he had a break from classes and flew into Michigan from Tennessee for the holiday.

[Jerry Rutledge]

We picked him up, got him from the airport. We had a family barbecue, friends and.

[David Rutledge]

Family over, and he seemed happy. Normal.

[Jerry Rutledge]

He seemed happy. He seemed normal.

[David Rutledge]

Nothing bothering him?

[Felicia Rutledge]

There was nothing. Nothing unusual.

[David Rutledge]

And maybe all was normal. Then just a few weeks later, Marcus was gone and the Rutledges needed to find him.

[Jerry Rutledge]

So I flew down to Nashville. My parents came down.

[David Rutledge]

When they arrived, they noticed something else. The car Marcus drove was also missing. What kind of car was it?

[Felicia Rutledge]

It was a Neon.

[Jerry Rutledge]

Yep.

[David Rutledge]

Marcus Red, Four Door 1995 Plymouth Neon with Michigan plates had vanished with him. Had he left town? Gone for a drive, or maybe gotten into an accident? As word of Marcus disappearance spread quickly in the TSU community and around Nashville, local media picked up the story.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

They eventually did release his information on the news and that also included information on his car.

[David Rutledge]

Days passed with still no sign of Marcus or that neon until 23 days after his disappearance, when detectives caught a break.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

The car was found at the Riverwood Apartments off of Cabot Drive, which is on the west side of Nashville.

[David Rutledge]

His car gets found in a place that doesn't seem to have any connection.

[Jerry Rutledge]

To him, miles away from his apartment.

[David Rutledge]

A little more than 20 miles to be exact. His family does not know why his car was found there, and they also do not believe he knew anyone who lived in that apartment complex. They still hoped it would lead them to Marcus.

[Valencia Bryant]

If they found this car, there's gotta be something that will kind of point us in the right direction.

[David Rutledge]

Detectives examined the car.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

There was no particular evidence. There was no blood or anything like that that really indicated anything at all had happened in that car.

[David Rutledge]

But you did find a handgun?

[Detective Matthew Filter]

Yes, there was a handgun recovered from the car, and that was possibly Marcus's.

[David Rutledge]

Why would Marcus have a gun?

[Valencia Bryant]

Well, I never knew Marcus to have a gun, but it didn't surprise me. He had had some run ins with some people and they had been into some altercations.

[David Rutledge]

What sort of people? And could they have done something to Marcus? It sounds to me as if it's possible that at the time he disappeared, he was involved with people that you didn't know anything about. People that he was, I'm not going to say keeping a secret from you, but that he just wasn't talking about.

[Felicia Rutledge]

The answer to that is yes, and I would say that it would fall in a category of keeping a secret from us.

[David Rutledge]

So what was Marcus involved in? Investigators were trying to figure that out, but beyond the car and the gun, they were not turning up many new leads. Then in February 1999, something happened which startled everyone in this case. That's when Marcus's best friend, Ethan Gibbs, was found murdered, gunned down in his home. Ethan was the friend who'd helped Tawanya get into Marcus apartment on the night he went missing. Now, Ethan was dead just eight months after Marcus disappeared.

[Jerry Rutledge]

He opens up his door and he was shot. I mean, that's brutal personal.

[Felicia Rutledge]

Yeah, that's anger connected.

[David Rutledge]

Coincidence, you guys tell me.

[Felicia Rutledge]

Let me take you back. At once upon a time, Athen and Marcus were roommates. And Marcus called us and said to us that he wanted to get his own place, wanted to move away from eighth. And we found that surprising. When we asked why. He simply said that Athen wasn't keeping up his end. His share was always late with his portion of the rent. Would help keep the place clean.

[David Rutledge]

Do you think maybe there was another reason?

[Felicia Rutledge]

Well, as you look back, I mean, there could have been.

[David Rutledge]

Were Marcus and Ethan both involved in some sort of trouble? Looking back, Marcus's dad wonders what was going on between them.

[Felicia Rutledge]

When we arrived in Nashville and met with Tawanya and Athan, tried to learn all they knew. Ethan never, ever seemed comfortable around us. And he was always perspiring, sweat dripping from his forehead. I mean, it was hot in Nashville, but wasn't that hot kind of thing?

[David Rutledge]

You think Athen knew more than he was telling?

[Felicia Rutledge]

I wish I had been more forceful in asking Athen what he knew. Maybe taking him to the side and saying, hey, look at it's me and you, man, I ain't doing nothing but tell me, were you guys into something?

[David Rutledge]

It was too late for that now. If Ethan Gibbs had carried any dark secrets, they likely died with him. Months turned into years. Years turned to decades. With still no new leads in Marcus disappearance, Nashville police labeled it a cold case. Then in 2020, Detective Filter took over as lead investigator. And what he uncovered about Marcus was about to deepen in this mystery and seriously surprise the Rutledge family.

[Felicia Rutledge]

In recent conversation with this detective, I mean, I've learned things that I didn't know before.

[David Rutledge]

Marcus's secrets were about to come tumbling out.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

MSNBC Films presents a new four part series from NBC News studios that exposes the injustices of wrongful convictions. The Sing sing chronicles first two episodes premiere tomorrow at 9:00pm Eastern on MSNBC.

[Jenna Bush Hager]

Hi everyone. I'm Jenna Bush Hager from Today with Hoda and Jenna. And I'm excited to share my new podcast, Open Book with Jenna. Each week, celebrities, experts, friends and authors will share candid stories with me about their lives and new projects. Guests like Stephen and Evie Colbert, Nicholas Sparks, Emily Henry, and more. Like a good book, you will leave feeling inspired and entertained. Join me for my brand new podcast, Open Book with Jenna. New episodes of Open Book with Jenna are released every Thursday. Listen now on Apple Podcasts.

[Thrasher Banks]

A few years ago, while digging through a box in storage, I expected to find old keepsakes from the 1990s. Instead, I found VHS tapes and police reports detailing a murder that happened in Dayton, Ohio.

[Felicia Rutledge]

Police arrested Jim McWhorter from Timothy Bell for the Triangle park murder. And as the two are brought to jail, McWhorter blames Terrell. I didn't do it. Right there, right there.

[Thrasher Banks]

As I dug through the contents of the box, I uncovered that the murderer may have been connected to a group who called themselves the Lords of Death. I'm Thrasher Banks, host of the new tenderfoot TV show Lords of Death. Join me as I unpack the box and discover connections between the Lords of Death and a slew of unsolved murders.

[David Rutledge]

They're just two little scrawny men, but what makes them so scary is their.

[Valencia Bryant]

Emptiness, their lack of conscience.

[David Rutledge]

People like that, you know, are capable of doing anything.

[Thrasher Banks]

Lords of Death is available now. Listen for free on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[David Rutledge]

Marcus Rutledge had been missing for 22 years when Detective Filter first opened the case file. And through his investigation, he confirmed at least one of the family's suspicions. Marcus was keeping certain things from them.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

I think he was telling his family he was a senior at tsu, Tennessee State University. And the detective that was on the case early on discovered that he was not. He was no longer enrolled.

[David Rutledge]

That's right. Marcus had dropped out of TSU and was lying about it to his family. What was he actually doing?

[Detective Matthew Filter]

Well, not completely sure exactly what he was doing with occupying his whole time. We do know that he was involved in the sale of marijuana.

[David Rutledge]

Marijuana? In 1998. Smoking or selling it was illegal in all 50 states. So he was selling a illegal drug.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

Right. I don't believe that. He was like some big mover, you know, like, he was right. You know, he was just kind of like a street level kind of a guy and selling probably to a lot of college kids and stuff.

[David Rutledge]

Valencia confirms that. She says it was all about providing for their son, Darius. And she remembers trying to talk Marcus out of it.

[Valencia Bryant]

I just remember for him, it was, you know, this is helping me to be able to help, and I'm going, well, of course I need you to help, but not to the point that you are kind of neglecting school and you're doing this. This isn't what you need to be doing.

[David Rutledge]

The weight of caring for Darius wasn't the the only thing on Marcus's shoulders. There was another secret he was keeping from his family. He had another child, a daughter, with his girlfriend, Tawanya. His daughter Jayla was two years old when he went missing. Marcus was actually with her on the morning he disappeared.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

He was taking his daughter to school or daycare.

[David Rutledge]

Barely an adult himself, Marcus had two young children and needed to take care of them. That's why Valencia believes he dropped out of school and started selling marijuana. Every facet of their son's secret life came as a surprise to the Rutledges. Marcus sounds like a guy who was a good son. And I'm not going to say he never gave you any trouble, but, like, it feels like he was on his way in life and you weren't super worried about him.

[Felicia Rutledge]

When this guy was in our presence every single time we go down to visit him, everything was spiffy, good, clean, good to go.

[David Rutledge]

He cared what you thought, David. Yep. And Felicia.

[Jerry Rutledge]

Yes.

[Felicia Rutledge]

He knew our values, our value system, and he knew our hopes and dreams for him as an individual.

[David Rutledge]

And he didn't want to disappoint you.

[Jerry Rutledge]

Right.

[David Rutledge]

The Rutledges say they understand why Marcus did not tell them about dropping out of school. Maybe he planned to go back before they could find out. And given his reluctance to tell them about his first child. They're also not surprised he kept the second child a secret, too. Okay, but selling weed, That's a side of him Marcus probably knew would disappoint his family. Tell me how you guys picked up on the fact that he was selling marijuana.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

The marijuana sales was information that was gathered by people that knew him, that knew that he was. He was selling. And of course, one of those was. Was Ethan Gibbs.

[David Rutledge]

Ethan Gibbs, Marcus's best friend and the man who was murdered just months after Marcus vanished. Detective Filter says Ethan was also selling weed. So did whoever killed Ethan go after Marcus first?

[Detective Matthew Filter]

Right after Ethan was killed. The detectives thought that there might be a connection there, but when comparing, looking at the cases, there's nothing obvious that they can say that the two. That Marcus's disappearance is connected with Athan's murder.

[David Rutledge]

Somebody was charged with Ethan's murder but not convicted.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

Yeah, the. The charges, for some reason, were dismissed. And I don't know why. I could never find an answer to that question. When I look at Athan's case, a lot of the evidence in it was circumstantial. So I'm not sure if the district attorney at the time just didn't feel that they could win that case, and so they dismissed the charges.

[David Rutledge]

So Ethan Gibbs murder is officially still unsolved.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

Yes. Yeah, it is.

[David Rutledge]

And so I guess there's still a possibility that it has something to do with Marcus's disappearance.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

There's nothing concrete to back that up, but certainly it is something that's worth keeping in mind. Knowing how close Marcus and Athan were.

[David Rutledge]

Detective Filter has his theories.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

The way the investigation looks is as though the marijuana sales and some confrontations that he had had in months prior to his disappearance are, in my opinion, are likely what led to his disappearance.

[David Rutledge]

The detective did not want to elaborate on what those confrontations might have been. Marcus family believes he may have been no match for the criminal characters he could have encountered when selling what was then an illegal drug.

[Felicia Rutledge]

I wonder whether or not Marcus was actually into something that was bigger than he was, and he was actually trying to get away. And his way of getting away would have been just to. Just to leave and leave no trace.

[David Rutledge]

The idea that Marcus, scared and over his head, chose to disappear is in some ways better than the alternative. The Rutledges don't know what happened. Of course, they do believe Marcus may still be alive.

[Jerry Rutledge]

We used to get these phone calls where we would pick up the phone, nobody would be there.

[David Rutledge]

Phone calls, they say started shortly after Marcus disappearance.

[Felicia Rutledge]

These calls would Happen once a month, once every two months.

[David Rutledge]

And maybe that's Marcus just calling to hear your voice.

[Jerry Rutledge]

Yeah.

[Felicia Rutledge]

And it got to the point where we answer the call, and nobody would be there. And Jerry, his mother, would say, hey, no worries. That's just Marcus checking in.

[David Rutledge]

And no answer.

[Jerry Rutledge]

Click, phone dead.

[David Rutledge]

Valencia says she received similar calls.

[Valencia Bryant]

They would just call and hold the phone like, we're fine. You know, your son is good. Still love you. You know, I want you to come home.

[David Rutledge]

The calls continued even up until Marcus and Felicia's mother, Jerry, passed away in 2015. She died of a rare brain disorder which leads to dementia. David says his wife never gave up trying to find Marcus, and neither will he.

[Felicia Rutledge]

We learned that there's a whole culture of people out there who've gone through similar situations to us. One individual was a pastor of a local church who told me his son disappeared for six years before he showed up at their doorstep. So things like that also give me hope, Josh.

[Jerry Rutledge]

Absolutely.

[Felicia Rutledge]

Look, I haven't given up hope that Marcus is out there somewhere.

[David Rutledge]

I mean, look, I don't want to take away any hope that you have, but, I mean, he wouldn't get in touch with one or the other of you.

[Felicia Rutledge]

It depends on how it's.

[Jerry Rutledge]

On what? The circumstances, how deep he had to.

[Felicia Rutledge]

He had to go in terms of concealing his identity.

[David Rutledge]

Maybe Marcus Rutledge is still out there, living in the shadows and watching his family from a distance. His family says they cannot rule anything out. What's it been like all these years without him?

[Jerry Rutledge]

I mean, it's missed birthdays, miss holidays.

[David Rutledge]

And missed time with his son Darius.

[Valencia Bryant]

I mean, his dad wasn't there, but he was there. He was always being talked about. He knew who his dad was.

[David Rutledge]

Darius is 30 now, seven years older than his father was when he disappeared.

[Valencia Bryant]

It's amazing how you grow up without a parent, but you can be exactly like that person anyway. His mannerisms, his behaviors, the goofiness. He is his dad all over and looks identical to his father.

[David Rutledge]

Marcus has missed a lot of time with his daughter, too. She may not remember, but she was one of the last people to see her father.

[Jerry Rutledge]

That is something that aches my heart. Your kids have not had an opportunity to, you know, be a part of you, be a part of their life.

[David Rutledge]

Like so many families in their position, the Rutledges say all they want is to know the truth.

[Jerry Rutledge]

It has never been a day that I don't think about him. Somebody knows something. Just say something.

[Felicia Rutledge]

We don't care now about whether anybody's brought to justice. We just want to understand and have some kind of closure.

[David Rutledge]

In 1998, David Rutledge saw his son's face for the last time. He says the last 26 years have taught him a lesson.

[Felicia Rutledge]

One of the things that I'd like to have us be careful of as parents is every chance you get, put your arms around your kid and hug him and tell them that you love them.

[David Rutledge]

Detective Matthew Filter says he is doing everything he can to get to the truth of what happened to Marcus. You think this is going to be solved someday?

[Detective Matthew Filter]

I'd like to hope that would certainly be my goal would be to solve it. But at minimum, I would certainly like to get the family some answers. Even if I if I can't bring anybody to justice, even just to give them some answers about what happened. I mean, I think a family deserves at least that.

[David Rutledge]

At a minimum, getting those answers may require a lucky break for you with this case.

[Detective Matthew Filter]

Yeah, a lucky break is what often happens.

[David Rutledge]

Here's where you can help at the time he went missing, Marcus Rutledge was 6ft tall, about 150 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He had his name, Marcus, tattooed across his stomach. Anyone with information about Marcus disappearance is asked to call the Metro Nashville Police Department Cold case unit at 615-862-7329. To learn more about other people we've covered in our Missing in America series, go to datelinemissinginamerica.com There you'll be able to submit cases you think we should cover in the future. Thanks for listening. See you Fridays on Dateline on NBC. Missing in America is a production of Dateline and NBC News. Keanu Reed is the producer of this episode. Bruce Berger is the audio editor, Bradley Davis is senior producer, Paul Ryan is executive producer and Liz Cole is senior executive producer from NBC News. Audio Sound mixing by Bob Mallory Bryson Barnes is head of audio production.