Monday, March 15, 2021

Murder and Mystery at Wolf Lake

Fatal house fires.  

Unsolved disappearances.  


Allegations of family murder.  


Human skulls as plant pots.


All in the same blog post.


50 year-old Bernard Rusness and 41-year-old Peggy McKay lived with their eight-year-old son Brian in Wolf Lake, Minnesota, a tiny farming community.  The couple both worked at a car dealership in Fargo, North Dakota.  Although all their friends and neighbors believed Bernard and Peggy were married, such was not the case.  In fact, Bernard was still legally wed to another woman, although they had long been separated.  The family lived quietly and did little socializing.  In a rural community where "everyone knew everyone," very few knew the Rusness household.   Despite this unusual reticence, the couple were regarded as decent, inoffensive people who were devoted to their young son.


"Minneapolis Star Tribune," March 6, 1983, via Newspapers.com



April 3, 1976, was a seemingly unremarkable day.  Bernard and Peggy spent the morning grocery shopping.  Around 4 p.m., Bernard was seen leveling his driveway.  At 11:30 p.m. a neighbor, Kevin Mickelson, was driving past the Rusness home when he saw it was on fire.  Other neighbors had already called the Fire Department, but by the time the flames were noticed, it was already too late to be of any help.  The house and everything in it was completely destroyed.  Curiously, the cause of the blaze was apparently never determined.  No one knew where the residents of the house were at the time of the fire.





When the ashes of what had once been the Rusness home were examined, the question of the whereabouts of little Brian Rusness was tragically answered when his charred body was found.  It was assumed that he had been asleep in his bed when the fire broke out, leaving him no time to escape.  It does not seem to have ever been established if Brian died before or during the fire.  Also found were the corpses of the family's two dogs, as well as a human skull.  (It was soon learned that Peggy had used the skull as a planter.)  The mystery lay in what was not found on the scene: namely, any trace of Bernard and Peggy.  Not only were their bodies missing--all of their clothing and luggage was gone as well.


This startling detail led investigators to the most obvious conclusion:  that the couple had, for whatever unknown diabolical reasons, murdered their son, set the house on fire in order to try to cover the deed, and fled.  However, all who had known the pair vehemently rejected this theory.  Bernard and Peggy had adored their son, and McKay in particular was a careful and protective parent.  Friends and relatives were united in their belief that it was impossible to picture either of them harming Brian.


It was also pointed out that the couple had just finished remodeling their house.  The very day of the fire, Bernard had started to install a sound system in his four-wheel drive.  Both their vehicles were still on the scene, and their joint bank account was untouched.  All of this argued against the idea that the pair had voluntarily vanished.


So, what did happen to Bernard Rusness and Peggy McKay?  Who started the fire, and why?  There have been any number of theories attempting to answer these questions, each of them weirder than the last.  Bernard's adult son, Ben Rusness, blamed authorities for conducting a slipshod investigation.  He believed the couple had been kidnapped, although he (publicly, at least) professed to have no idea who would have wanted to harm them.  In 1983, Margaret Rusness, Bernard's legal wife, expressed her opinion that the couple was dead.  She noted that she had not heard from Bernard since the fire, even though he used to regularly phone her.  She added the somewhat odd comment that the whole matter should be allowed to rest.


Others pointed to the fact that a strange religious cult was believed to have been living near Wolf Lake.  Although there is no evidence that either Bernard or Peggy was in any way associated with the group, it was speculated that they might have somehow run afoul of the cultists.  However, nothing was ever found to back up this rather lurid idea.  Local authorities believed the pair survived the fire, but aside from that, they could offer no theories about what had happened.


In 1983, Ben Rusness told a reporter from the Minneapolis "Star Tribune" that he had no idea what became of his father and Peggy, or if the couple was living or dead.  "They may not be alive, but something had to happen to them.  I've got to know."


Unfortunately, to date, the disappearance of Bernard Rusness and Peggy McKay is still unsolved.  As far as I can tell, we don't even know whose skull was being used as a planter.

31 comments:

  1. There does seem to have been a rather lackadaisical investigation: no one knows whether the boy died during or before the fire; no one knows how the fire started. If those points could have been solved, it may have given more clues to the other mysteries. The only thing I can think of is that someone forced the couple to leave, allowed them to pack - under the assumption that they would be taking a harmless, albeit involuntary, trip, and that the boy could be safely left sleeping. In the meantime, someone set the blaze to cover the parents’ disappearance. Though why any of this should take place, I can’t imagine.

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    1. The best I could guess was something along those lines, but that only makes any kind of sense if the couple was secretly involved with something shady.

      Incidentally, this is one of those unsolved cases where you occasionally see people on the internet darkly muttering that the police "know" what really happened, but just don't want to say publicly. Impossible to say, of course, if that's true or not.

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    2. its true,becker county sheriffs dept has purposely muddied up this case to cover thier involvement..

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  2. It seems to me that the dogs were killed to stop them making any noise, rather than perishing in the fire.

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  3. and by the way ,this is not a missing persons case,it is a triple homocide..covered up by the becker county sheriffs dept.

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    1. This is Tracy Briggs, a history reporter from The Forum newspaper. I'm digging into this for a possible podcast. If anyone is willing to be interviewed, I'd love to chat with you via Zoom or in person. Just email me at tracy.briggs@forumcomm.com.

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    2. I am his granddaughter and I can certainly reach out to family members about this

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    3. Are there any articles or info on the web sharing the family’s opinion? Anything about the actual investigation?

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    4. Covered up by the Sheriff himself!

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    5. TRusness, For some reason, I'm I missed that you commented on this in September. Let me know if you're able to find relatives who could be interviewed. Email me at tracy.briggs@forumcomm.com. Thanks!

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  4. If local law enforcement was involved, what could the possible motive have been??

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    1. if you were at all familiar with this case ,motives would abound,this is a corrupt little county.

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  5. I have been working with family members on this case for the last year and a half. There is a lot of false information on the web.

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    1. I have been noticing that as well

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    2. bernard rusness was my father,and ive heard nothing about your investigation?you may very well be false,explain yourself ?

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    3. bernard rusness was my father ,i nor any of my family members have heard of you,explain your remarks on this page.

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  6. JC which family members have you been working with? These were my great grandparents. It’s been speculated the local police may have been responsible and covered it up. Rumor is they never left that property... good luck getting a warrant for it as I believe it was bought by someone in law enforcement directly related to the crime.

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    1. I believe you are correct in your conclusions.

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    2. TP, sorry I never saw your response.
      To answer your first question ..Jeff, Meghan, and Val. Cadaver dogs searched property in 2006. The have my info or you can contact me through FB.

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    3. Respond to this comment and I should be notified now.

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  7. This is Tracy Briggs, a history reporter from The Forum newspaper. I'm digging into this for a possible podcast. If anyone is willing to be interviewed, I'd love to chat with you via Zoom or in person. Just email me at tracy.briggs@forumcomm.com.

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  8. Great stuff. Please update when appropriate.

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  9. Here is Bernard Rusness' burial information.
    https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/140454938/bernard-wright-rusness

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  10. I googled came across this because the deceased became an entry on my Ancestry tree. Peggy's first husband, Owen Ruben McKay, is a relative by marriage. When looking at someone elses tree I noticed all three dates of death were the same. Worth a dig for a podcast. Peggy married at 19 to Owen, who was 44, they had a daughter in 1957 and lived in Fargo. Ancestry show that the daughter lived in Wolf Lake (I assume she inherited the property).

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  11. notice how they attempt to muddle info,even in this article above,one paragraph explains how everything was destroyed in fire,next paragraph says all clothes and luggage was gone?.This fire reached creamatorium temps,no clothes or luggage would have survived,and who knew of their luggage?local becker county deputy"s wife was heard saying that all the clothes hangers were gone?? why would you say such a thing under these horrendous cirrcumstances,cover for somebody inadvertantly,purposely?.The best becker county law enforcement came up with was flying saucers,airplanes,cults,ie {ghosts! } and nationally recognized serial killers? anything to moved the focus away from the truth...so much more evidence that points to both to incompetence ,it was 1976 not the mid-evil age? or just plane covering up to protect the guilty.To this day they call it a missing persons case, well they have had Brians body in front of them all this time ,he was murdered along with his parents ,the only thing missing is investigators that give a damn ,best efforts of these incompetent fools are spacemen and people in white sheets?, ghosts? there is a mountain of un-investigated evidence in this case ,when the lead investigator should be a suspect you can understand why only confusion is the conclusion.If there was an investigator with half planter of noodles this case would have been solved in a week.

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    1. Hi it's Tracy Briggs from Forum Communications. I would love to dig into this. Would you be willing to be interviewed rrusness?

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  12. I am the Granddaughter of Peggy. I've heard it mentioned that Bernard was friendly with the ladies and that it was speculated that he was having an affair with sheriffs wife. That would be the motive perhaps?

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    1. Hello Jessica if you want reach out to me I can share information with you.

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