The Strange Deaths of Ruby Bruguier and Arnold Archambeau

"Sioux Falls Argus-Leader," February 12, 1994, via Newspapers.com

In this blog, I have written about people who die under highly mysterious circumstances--so mysterious, that it is impossible to say whether or not their deaths were the result of foul play.  Other times, there are stories of corpses simply being found in places that make no sense.  The following tale involves both these elements.

Arnold Archambeau and Ruby Ann Bruguier were members of the Yankton Sioux tribe.  They knew each other since childhood, as they both grew up on the reservation in Charles Mix County, South Dakota.  When Arnold’s mother died not many years after his 1972 birth, the boy moved in with an aunt, Karen Tuttle.  Ruby, born in 1974, was one of the eight children of Quentin and Myrtle Bruguier.  Arnold was said to be something of a “party animal,” but he and Ruby were both considered to be “nice kids,” well-liked, close to their relatives and not the sort to get into any serious mischief.  

When Arnold and Ruby were in high school, their long friendship turned into romance, a relationship which resulted in Ruby giving birth to their daughter, Erika Marie, in 1991.  After the baby’s arrival, the new mother and her child also moved in with Arnold’s aunt.  Arnold worked at Fort Randall Casino, where he was considered to be a good employee.

On the night of December 11, 1992, the young couple decided they needed a break from the duties of parenthood.  They left little Erika in the care of Ruby’s uncle, Charlie Dion, and went out for a night on the town.  Accompanying them was Charlie’s 17-year-old daughter Tracy.

When the trio returned to the uncle’s house early the next morning, it was obvious that all three were drunk.  Tragically, instead of insisting that they sleep it off before driving anywhere else, the uncle merely advised them that he would continue to look after the baby until they had sobered up.  For whatever reason--perhaps she wished to avoid a fatherly lecture--Tracy left with her friends.

Around 7 a.m., their car, with Arnold at the wheel, paused at a stop sign.  As the car moved on, it hit some black ice, which led to Arnold losing control.  The car flipped over into a ditch by the side of the road.

Tracy had only vague memories of what happened next.  Arnold was no longer in the car.  Ruby was able to get her door open wide enough to squeeze her way out.  Although Tracy begged her not to leave her there, Ruby also walked away.  As Tracy was upside down and still in the car, she could not see where her friends went, but she did not think they were badly injured.  Tracy, shaken and confused, remained in the car until an ambulance and police arrived on the scene.  These authorities found no sign of Arnold and Ruby.  When Tracy explained what happened, a search was launched in the area of the crash, but no trace was found of the missing couple.  Police quickly concluded that the pair, fearing that Arnold would face drunk driving charges, were merely in hiding.  (Although authorities considered it highly unusual that Ruby would voluntarily disappear, considering that she was still breastfeeding her baby.)  The police reported that a witness had seen Arnold and Ruby get into another car immediately after the crash, but we know nothing more about this claim.

"Sioux Falls Argus-Leader," March 13, 1993

There were subsequent alleged sightings of Arnold.  A woman who knew him well stated that she had seen him on New Year’s Eve.  Other witnesses claimed to have seen both him and Ruby, but these reports were all uncorroborated.  

The whereabouts of the couple remained a mystery for three months.  Then, on March 10, a motorist saw a body floating in the ditch where the accident had occurred.  (Although the ditch had been dry at the time Arnold crashed his car, it now contained a few feet of water.)  The body was so badly decomposed, an autopsy and dental records were needed for it to be identified as the remains of Ruby Bruguier.  When the ditch was drained, Arnold’s body was also discovered.  Curiously, his corpse was much less decomposed--in fact, he looked as if he had died soon before his body was discovered.  While Ruby was wearing the same clothes from the morning of the accident, (although her shoes and eyeglasses were missing,) it’s unknown whether or not Arnold was wearing the outfit he had on when he disappeared.  Strangest of all, Arnold had three keys in one of his pockets.  Investigators were unable to find the homes or cars they belonged to.  A clump of hair was found on the edge of the road about 30 feet from where Ruby’s body was discovered.  Forensic testing determined the hair was hers.  However, it was believed impossible that the hair had remained there for the three months she had been missing.

The coroner determined that both Arnold and Ruby had died of hypothermia.  However, he could not say when or where either of them passed away.  Investigators--citing the failure to find either of them during the initial search, or in the weeks following their disappearance--thought it was almost certain that both of them died elsewhere, with an unknown “someone” subsequently returning their bodies to the scene of the accident.  If such was the case, that leads to some very obvious questions:  Where did Arnold and Ruby go?  Did they really die of exposure, or were they murdered?  Who placed their bodies in the ditch, and why?  No one could say.  

The FBI eventually took over the case, only to close it four years later due to the lack of evidence suggesting foul play.  In the words of Special Agent Matt Miller, “All we know is that they appeared in the ditch and that was it.”  In the years since then, no information has emerged to help change that bleak verdict.