Welcome back. I’m currently traveling in the high country of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado where communications can be limited so national and local news often reaches me a bit late. For example, it was three days after the recent death of former First Lady Barbara Bush before I heard about it. On that day I also read the death notice in the Examiner-Enterprise of a man who died the same week. On November 23, 1967 this man brought reporters from around the country to little Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He drew another group of people to town at the same time and they were FBI agents. His name was Raymond Greenwood and I found him quite interesting when I interviewed him for my column in 2009, getting the details about a story that after forty years was almost forgotten.
It all started when Raymond and a friend decided to drive his VW bug to Dallas, Texas. On the return trip that same VW bug carried the gravestone of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who most people believe assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Oswald himself was assassinated a few days later and is still buried in Dallas but over the years his gravestone wouldn’t stay put. An interesting story for sure and you can find out all about in in the archives of the Examiner-Enterprise.
Another story I have discovered while in Colorado relates to the mystery surrounding a murder outside of Gunnison, Colorado. This story began when I attended the Western Heritage Awards two weeks ago. I was contacted by a man from Mustang, Oklahoma who knew I wrote a column for the EE and thought I might be interested in a murder he knew about. Dave, and I’ll leave his last name out to protect his privacy, is a serious hunter. He lives in southern Oklahoma but travels to Colorado regularly, hunting whatever is in season. He usually hunts on the same 700 acre ranch owned by Deborah Rudibaugh and her two kids Stephanie and Jacob. This beautiful property with several natural lakes and many unusual rock formations is valued in the millions. For several years Dave made all his arrangements for hunting through Deborah and her son Jake Millison but for the last couple of years Jacob hadn’t been around. Deborah and her daughter Stephanie told Dave that Jacob had left with his camping gear and never come back but that story didn’t sound right to him. Jacob’s friends were just as concerned as Dave and in May 2015 Jacob Millison was reported missing not by his mother or sister but by his friends. After filing the missing persons report they blanketed the area with posters and ran radio ads but there was no sign of Jacob.
Dave still hunted on the ranch but last July after a tip, which Dave tells me came from an unidentified source, the case broke wide open when 60 law enforcement officers searched the ranch and found Jacob’s body buried in one of the corrals. Speculation ran wild until this past March when the sheriff’s office arrested Jacob’s sister Stephanie and charged her with murder. This is a strange case alright because now just a few days ago Jacob’s mother has been arrested and charged with his murder as well. The sheriff says the murder was all about money and that the sister killed Jacob with their mother’s help. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more on the national news as this unusual case goes to trial.
Next week I’ll be bringing you more from out west as I search for interesting stories.
Till next time, I’ll see ya down the road…..
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