Sgt. Patrick Rust was on leave. He had been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. He was getting some down time before his transfer from Fort Drum, New York to Fort Lewis in Washington state. On March 15, 2007, Patrick was last seen in a gay bar speaking to a friend from high school. It's believed Patrick left the bar around 1 a.m.

He was never seen alive again. It was a cold New York winter. The temperature was in the 20s. Patrick didn't own a car so where did he go? His roommate called his superiors the next day to report that Patrick wouldn't be showing up for work. The roommate claimed he didn't know where Patrick was. If he didn't know where he was, then how would he know that Patrick wouldn't show up for work? And why would he call Patrick's supervisors?

On September 16, 2007, a farmer found a human skeleton in his field. The skeleton was identified as Patrick Rust. He was located five miles away from the bar where he was last seen. Judy Rust hired a retired detective to investigate the case. What he found was disturbing.

Judy Rust continues fighting to get justice for her youngest son Patrick. Was Patrick killed by his own fellow soldiers or was he the victim of a hate crime because someone thought he was gay?

Today, no one has been arrested. If you have any information about this cold case, please contact the Jefferson County, NY Sheriff’s Office at (315) 786-2676.

Please also visit my website for more information about my true crime and paranormal newspaper columns at www.themarcabe.com. You can also help support my podcast by making a Paypal donation to augustlake@fuse.net at https://bit.ly/39iw6iz. If you would like to contact me about this podcast, please email me at catchmykiller@gmail.com.