Mother of the Year

Today, Michael Brodkorb, the journalist (not a phrase I throw around lightly), whose investigative reporting of the disappearance of the Grazzini-Rucki girls lead to the discovery of the girls, alive, joined me to talk about the latest developments in the case, specifically the upcoming trial beginning on Monday of the girl's mother, Sandra.

Some people have asked me why I've been so interested in this case.  Undeniably, the connection to Michelle MacDonald, the former GOP candidate for the Minnesota Supreme Court, is ambrosia.  MacDonald, the same person who didn't disclose to the MNGOP her upcoming DWI trial prior to being given the endorsement in 2014, and who had an epic standoff with her own party at the MNGOP booth at the Minnesota State Fair that same year, is the lawyer for Sandra.  Also, MacDonald's campaign manager and friend, Dede Evavold, seems to have played a major role in the abduction (trial pending).  That's right, there's a very real possibility the GOP candidate for the Minnesota Supreme Court might've been aware of the details in the disappearance of two teenage girls (or maybe worse!), while she was running for a seat on the highest court in the state!  We'll have to see what transpires over the next few months.

For me, the fascination evolves around one thing: if found guilty of the accusations being levied against her, how can any parent treat their children as horribly as Sandra Grazzini-Rucki?

Marriages fail.  The person you thought you married ends up being a very different person after awhile, and you start to grow apart.  I get that, and I've had numerous friends with kids get divorced. In every one of those cases, the parents biggest concern were the kids.  They try to make sure, even when there's real hatred between the former spouses, the kids had some semblance of a normal life, and a normal relationship with each parent.  It seems nothing could be further from the truth in the case of Sandra.

Once again, innocent until proven guilty, and the court case begins Monday.  My personal opinion; she's guilty as hell.

During divorce proceedings against her ex, David Rucki, years ago, she manufactured claims of child abuse, against him, claims the court thoroughly investigated and were found to be false.  The court even went as far as to accuse Sandra of trying to brainwash her daughters, and the father was awarded primary custody.  This seems to have pushed Sandra into revenge mode.

Sandra helped facilitate the girls running away, creating a fictional story; the court system failed to protect the Grazzini-Rucki girls, forcing her to take more drastic measures to keep the girls safe.  She took them to DeDe Evavold's house in St. Cloud, where the girls stayed for a few days, while a foggy underground network of scorned parents who feel the justice system is rigged, assisted in coordinating a 'safe house' for the girls to be taken to.  The girls were taken to the Dahlen farm in western Minnesota, dropped off by their mother.  She told them she'd be back soon.

She never came back for them.

Apparently she never called, wrote, or inquired about her daughters.  She also seemed to completely cut off all interaction with her other kids still in the custody of her ex husband.  Sandra instead went off on an adventure, hanging out with new men, traveling the world, going to sporting events, and hanging out with VIP's.

Meanwhile, her daughters were kept in a workhouse situation on a horse farm.  They were pretty much locked up, with very limited outside interaction, for over two and a half years!  To put that in perspective, if you dropped off those kids today, you wouldn't see them again until February of 2019!

If all true, there's only one unthinkable truth.  She never cared for her kids in any capacity.

She seems to have done all of this with one goal in mind, to get back at her ex.  She succeeded, a thousand fold.  As a father, I can't comprehend what every night was like, wondering where two of your children were, were they even still alive.  Ghastly.  If there is any good news to come out of this case, the girls have been reunited with David, and they seem to be getting back to some normalcy in their lives.  The reality, the scars will never fully heal.

Evil exists on this planet, and not all of it is easy to see.  When I look at Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, I see evil; an evil I'll never be able to understand.