Missing
Willie Ann Rucker
Rucker, approximately 1979
Date and time person was reported missing : 04/08/1979
Missing location (approx) :
Waterloo, Iowa
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
Black
DOB : 08/11/1951 (69)
Age at the time of disappearance: 27 years old
Height / Weight : 5'3, 110 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Rucker goes by her middle name, Ann.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Rucker was last seen in Waterloo, Iowa on April 8, 1979. She had recently divorced and was working as a cocktail waitress while her sister cared for her son and two daughters.
On the night of her disappearance, Rucker worked late. She called her sister from a grocery store and asked her to take the children to Rucker's apartment on west Donald Street. Rucker said she would meet them there. She never arrived and has never been heard from again.
Rucker was having problems with a boyfriend at the time of her disappearance and, days before she was last seen, she told the police the man was scaring her. Her family believes this individual murdered her, but he has never been charged in her case.
David Barrett, Rucker's youngest child, who was a baby when she disappeared, was raised first by his grandparents and then by his oldest sister. His father was not a part of his life. He grew up believing his mother had been killed in a car accident, and didn't learn the truth about her disappearance until he was an adult. Barrett became a professional football player and played for the New York Jets and the Arizona Cardinals.
Rucker's disappearance remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Waterloo Police Department
319-291-4340
September 2021 updates and sources
Iowa Cold Cases
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
The New York Times
The Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier Online
October 12, 2004. July 1, 2015; Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: and Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
