The Bizarre Disappearance of Bernard Rusness and Peggy McKay
The couple vanished following a house fire that killed their young son — and the tragedy may have been a triple homicide.
Friday, April 2, 1976, was an unseasonably mild day in Wolf Lake, Minnesota, with the temperature topping out at close to 60 degrees. For Bernard Rusness and his common-law wife, Peggy, the sunny day was a welcome change from the bitter winter temperatures that had enveloped the area for the past few months. After finishing work for the day, the couple went to the grocery store and then headed home in time to meet their 8-year-old son, Brian, when he arrived home from school.
Later that afternoon, Bernard decided to take advantage of the warm weather and started installing a new sound system in his truck. Neighbors recalled seeing the 48-year-old hard at work in his driveway, but the project took longer than he anticipated. Realizing he wasn’t going to finish before the sun went down, Bernard decided to call it a night and went inside. He left the hood of his vehicle up and his tool shed door open, intending to complete his work in the morning. He would never get the chance.