Young mom Michelle Rust, 24, vanished from her home in Arbutus, in Maryland’s Baltimore County in July, 2002

Her husband Dwight Rust Jr claimed he last saw his morning on the morning of July 20, 2002

She left their home around 9.30am to pick up items for their son’s third birthday celebration and never came homes

She remains missing, presumed dead, except a suspect has now been charged 24 years later

Rust Jr, 48, arrested on April 21, has been indicted by a grand jury on a first-degree murder charge in connection with his wife’s disappearance

On April 22, he was ordered to be held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center

Michelle Rust, [photo], was 24 when she vanished from her Maryland home in 2002. She has not been seen since and presumed dead

She vanished while preparing for her son’s third birthday party nearly 24 years ago but finally there has been an arrest in her case after a group of students began digging into it again.
Michelle Rust was last seen on the morning of July 20, 2002, when her husband told investigators she left their home in Arbutus, Maryland, around 9.30am to pick up items for their son’s celebrations.
This week her husband Dwight ‘DJ’ Rust Jr, 48, was arrested and indicted by a grand jury on a first-degree murder charge in connection with her disappearance, according to Baltimore County Police.
The husband was arrested on Tuesday April 22, by Baltimore County police.
A judge on Wednesday ordered that he be held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center.

Dwight Rust Jr, [photo], now 48, of Baltimore County, MD, has been charged with the murder of his wife who vanished in 2002

Dwight had been the one to report his wife missing the day she vanished, 24 years ago.
Her disappearance quickly raised suspicions. Detectives said there was never any activity in her bank accounts after she vanished, no ATM withdrawals, no checks written, and none of her credit cards were ever used or recovered.
Michelle was also dependent on medication for diabetes, investigators said, and friends and family told police she would not have left her young son behind. 
Her father-in-law later found her 1988 green Dodge Caravan abandoned a a short distance from the couple’s home in nearby Lansdowne, at Zion Road and Clyde Avenue, with a key broken off in the driver’s door lock.

Michelle Rust seen with husband Dwight Rust Jr went out to buy supplies for her son’s third birthday in 2022 and never returned. Dwight Jr has now been charged with murder

Police, along with Michelle’s family, searched for her in various neighborhoods, but she was never found.
‘We canceled the party. We knew she was missing, and everybody was just frantically looking for her,’ Michelle’s mother, Gwen Lins, said in 2023. 
“As time went on, nobody heard from her,” said Cpl. Donna Carter of the Baltimore County Police Missing Persons Unit, “There was no activity on her bank accounts. No checks written. She was a dedicated mother, a dedicated daughter to her family. She wouldn’t have just disappeared so it’s pretty evident she was the victim of foul play.”
Detectives returned to the Rust family home in May 2023, alongside forensic students from Towson University, using ground-penetrating radar to search for signs of disturbed soil at the property.

The young family lived in this home in Arbutus, in Baltimore County. Missing and presumed dead, Michelle Rust left was last seen leaving home around 9.30am on July 20, 2002, to pick up items for their son’s celebrations, her husband claims

Michelle Rust never returned from he alleged shopping trip. Her 1988 green Dodge Caravan was later found by her Her father-in-law, abandoned with a broken key in the door, a short distance from the couple’s home

Interviewed by a local station as the cold case search resumed in 2023, Dana Carter with Baltimore County police, said: ‘We are out here today to do ground-penetrating radar just in an effort to try to obtain any information related to her disappearance.’
It remains unclear whether that search played a role in the recent arrest, as the indictment against Dwight is sealed and officials have not disclosed what new evidence led to the charge.
However, Rust’s defense attorney Jeremy Eldridge said they are yet to see new evidence linking his client to his wife’s disappearance.
Eldridge maintains that ‘Every member of [Rust’s] family has cooperated with law enforcement. There is no forensic evidence, no DNA, no latent fingerprints. There is no witness that has come forward to say that they saw a crime occur or had evidence that a crime occurred,’ the defense attorney said. 
‘The police simply cannot solve Michelle’s disappearance and have chosen – although we have no new evidence in 21 years – to blame Dwight Rust Jr.’

Michelle and Dwight Rust Jr lived next door to his parents. Investigators have searched both homes accompanied by forensic students from Towson University, using ground-penetrating radar searching for disturbed soil beneath the surface of their yards

Bail review testimony indicates Dwight Rust was indicted for lying to police in 2005.
He had been involved in an affair at the time of his wife’s disappearance. Ultimately he married the woman and had children.
Dwight prosecutors said ,planned to tell Michelle on their son’s birthday that he wanted a divorce.
The state believes Dwight Rust disposed of Michelle’s body in a way that it would not be found, adding that granted bail, he would intimidate witnesses.
“You also heard that because he was planning on ending his marriage, that that was a motive for murder,” Eldridge said.
‘There’s no prior history of domestic violence. There are no allegations that he ever threatened her or caused any physical harm, or even verbally abused her.
‘There’s only evidence that he was going to leave the marriage. He didn’t profit from her disappearance. There was no life insurance policy.’
Detectives said however, that after extensive interviews over the years, they have not found anyone who actually saw Rust leave her home in Arbutus, nor did they find anyone who saw her behind the wheel of her green minivan.

Investigators search the Rust family property in 2023 as part of renewed efforts to find evidence in Michelle Rust’s disappearance

Prosecutors had provided a grand jury with an 18-page document spelling out their case against Dwight Rust.
They also told the judge there is no evidence Michelle Rust ran away. Her parents were the last to see her alive the night before her disappearance.
The defense maintains prosecution have no new evidence.
“I was a prosecutor for five years. I’ve been a defense attorney for almost 16 (years). I’ve never seen a case with less evidence charged since I’ve been a lawyer,” Eldridge countered.
“This case is embarrassing, and it’s a travesty. And he should have been released today.”
Although the judge noted that Dwight Rust has no criminal history and is eligible for home detention, bail was denied, citing public safety concerns.