MURDERED: Marcus Rutledge
A young father moves to Nashville chasing his college dreams, but in June 1998, 23-year-old Marcus Rutledge vanishes after taking his daughter to daycare. His disappearance reveals a life filled with secrets…and even after the discovery of his skull, his family is left wondering if they’ll ever know what really happened.
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Marcus Rutledge. Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department; enhanced by audiochuck staff.
Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Marcus Rutledge. Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department; enhanced by audiochuck staff.
Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Marcus Rutledge. Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department; enhanced by audiochuck staff.
Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Marcus-Rutledge-06-(ENHANCED)
Photo courtesy of NamUs; enhanced by audiochuck staff.
Marcus Rutledge.
Photo courtesy of NamUs; enhanced by audiochuck staff.
Marcus Rutledge. Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department; enhanced by audiochuck staff.
Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Marcus’s duplex apartment on Park Dale Dr.
Photo courtesy of Davidson County Assessor of Property.
Marcus and his sister, Felicia.
Photo courtesy of David Rutledge.
Marcus Rutledge. Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department; enhanced by audiochuck staff.
Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Marcus in his college freshman yearbook photo. Photo courtesy of Tennessee State University 1994 yearbook; enhanced by audiochuck staff.
Photo courtesy of Tennessee State University 1994 yearbook.
Marcus in his college junior yearbook photo. Photo courtesy of Tennessee State University 1996 yearbook; enhanced by audiochuck staff.
Photo courtesy of Tennessee State University 1996 yearbook.
Marcus’s car, a 1995 Plymouth Neon.
Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Marcus’s car was found abandoned in the Riverwood Apartments complex.
Photo taken from Google Street view, circa 2011.
The woods where Marcus’s skull was found in 2010.
Photo taken from Google Maps.
A map showing the distances between Marcus’s apartment, the location where his car was found, and the location where his skull was found.
Photo taken from Google Google Maps.
Athan Gibbs Jr.
Photo courtesy of his obituary.
Charles D. Brown, Jr.
Photo courtesy of the Tennessee Department of Correction.
James Cowan.
Photo courtesy of the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole.
Nashville Detective Matt Filter.
Photo courtesy of Matt Filter.
Timeline
10am
Marcus takes his daughter to daycare.
1-1:30pm
Marcus and his girlfriend, Tawania, talk on the phone.
Charles experiences a home invasion and is shot 5 times. He also shoots someone.
A maintenance man reports that Marcus’s missing car has been sitting at Riverwood Apartments for several weeks.
Charles spends several nights at Athan’s home while Athan’s brother and roommate, Jonathan, avoids them.
Jonathan returns to his and Athan’s home and finds Athan shot to death.
Charles is charged with Athan’s homicide and turns himself in. The charges are eventually dropped.
A hunter finds a skull in some woods near Ashland City Highway and Pecan Valley Road.
Gerri, Marcus’s mother, passes away without ever knowing what happened to her son.
DNA from the unidentified skull is uploaded to CODIS.
The skull is identified as Marcus’s.
Where Marcus lived.
Contact Authorities with Info
If you have any information, please contact the Metro Nashvhille PD’s Crime Stoppers Division at 615-74-CRIME (6145-742-7463).
We’d love to speak with you and see how we can support.
If you’re a law enforcement agency or family member of one of the people we mentioned in this episode, or if you’re looking for more coverage on a case, please reach out. You can email us at:
Episode Source Material
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Original reporting by Nina Schutzman
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Tennessee Bureau Of Investigation records
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Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole records
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Davidson County Court (TN) records
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Wilson County Court (TN) records
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Cumberland County Court (TN) records State v Cowan (2000)
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The Tennessean (6-10-1998, by Jon Yates) Accessed 12-26-2024 Police – shot man suspect in six killings
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The Tennessean (6-12-1998, by Jon Yates) Accessed 12-26-2024 Police looking to link suspect to more killings
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The Tennessean (10-11-1998, by Beth Warren) Accessed 10-11-2024 Family of missing man clings to hope
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The Tennessean (2-25-1999, by Kathy Carlson) Accessed 12-26-2024 Killer sought in man’s death at Bellevue home
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The Tennessean (3-6-1999, by Kathy Carlson) Accessed 10-30-2024 Arrest warrant issued in Bellevue shooting death
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The Tennessean (3-15-1999) Accessed 10-30-2024 Man surrenders in shooting death
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The Tennessean (3-18-1999, by Kirk Loggins) Accessed 10-30-2024 Hearing short on evidence in Bellevue slaying
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NBC News (7-18-2024, by Josh Mankiewicz) Accessed 10-30-2024 Dateline: Missing in America podcast covers the June 1998 disappearance of Marcus Rutledge in Nashville, Tennessee
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Oxygen Network (7-18-2024, by Jax Miller) Accessed 10-30-2024 What Happened to Marcus Rutledge, Who Disappeared in 1998
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