Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline NBC chronicles the mysterious disappearance and murder of Colorado rancher Jake Millison in 2015. The upcoming episode, “Trouble at the 7-11 Ranch,” will air on the network this Sunday, March 24, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET. A synopsis of the episode reads, “When a Colorado rancher mysteriously disappears, his friends know something isn’t right and spend years fighting for answers. Josh Mankiewicz reports.”
According to Oxygen, in May 2015, Jake Millison went missing from his later stepfather’s 7-11 ranch. After failing to get in touch with him, Millison’s friends inquired about his mother, Deb Rudibaugh, who resided with him on the ranch. Rudibaugh filed a missing person’s report in August. Later, Millison’s older sister, Stephanie, and her husband, David Jackson, moved to the ranch property and started taking over.
Law enforcement and Jake Million’s friends started to notice his family’s unconcerned and strange behavior. Meanwhile, Deb Rudibaugh kept offering different stories about why he left before finally confessing to his murder. Millison’s mother claimed she shot the 29-year-old in the head as he slept and buried the body in a manure pile.
In 2017, over two years after the disappearance, investigators found Millison’s remains, per the Denver Post. They suspected the involvement of other people in the crime and subsequently uncovered a disturbing family feud.
Who were the suspects arrested in Jake Millison’s murder case?
Oxygen True Crime reported that Jake Millison worked at his later stepfather’s 7-11 ranch, rode a vintage Harley Davidson, and trained at a jiu-jitsu gym before heading to a bar to hang with friends and play pool.
Sometime around midnight on May 16, 2015, Millison’s friend Randy Martinez dropped him off at the ranch. That was the last time Martinez ever saw him. The two reportedly had plans to hang out the next day. Martinez said, “I texted him [the next day] to see what was up and never got a reply. He claimed it was “really weird because I pretty much talked to him every day.”
Jake Millison’s friends were worried about his well-being after failing to contact him. However, his family members, including his mother, Deb Rudibaugh, sister Stephanie, and her husband, David Jackson, seemed unbothered. Moreover, within months of his disappearance, Stephanie and David moved to the ranch property and started taking over the work.
Per the outlet, Gunnison County Undersheriff Mark Mykol said Rudibaugh told them that Millison left “with a friend and was going to the Reno, Nevada area.” Her stories kept changing as the months passed. She eventually told authorities, “My son has been doing drugs.” The mother claimed they were not close and had “one argument and fight after another.” She further alleged that Millison had “started doing the mixed martial arts and the drugs.”
Millison’s friends did not believe Rudibaugh’s stories. Gunnison County Deputy District Attorney Jessica Waggoner said, “We couldn’t buy the family’s reasoning anymore.” Waggoner stated that while Rudibaugh said her son “left for Reno, Nevada to do some martial arts fighting,” Stephanie told friends and family “that Deb Rudibaugh had told her that he was in Portland or Seattle. The cities kept changing and the reasons why he was leaving kept changing.”
Finally, in July 2017, Deb Rudibaugh admitted to investigators that she fatally shot Jake Millison as he slept in bed. She said, “I killed Jake. I shot him in the head,” using her Smith & Wesson .357 ‘Lady Smith’ revolver. She claimed she wrapped his body in plastic and duct tape, dragged it down the stairs and outside, and buried it in a manure pile, per Oxygen and the DA’s report. Investigators eventually found his skeletal remains buried on the ranch property.
Deb Rudibaugh claimed that she acted alone. However, investigators believed that Rudibaugh, who had cancer and was recovering from surgery at the time, could not have committed the crime alone. Per the DA’s report, the surgeon who conducted Rudibaugh’s surgery believed it would have been difficult even before surgery. They alleged that Stephanie and David helped cover up the crime.
The Denver Post stated that in March 2018, authorities arrested three of Jake Millison’s family members in connection with his murder. The suspects in Millison’s murder case were his mother, Deb Rudibaugh, his sister, Stephanie, and her husband, David Jackson. Investigators only learned about the crime after Rudibaugh confessed. They later deduced that Stephanie and David were also involved in the crime to gain control over the ranch, which was worth millions at the time.
Oxygen stated that Deb Rudibaugh continued to insist she acted alone and eventually pleaded guilty to Jake Millison’s second-degree murder. She received a 40-year sentence but died of cancer in 2019. The DA’s report confirmed that David Jackson pleaded guilty to tampering with a deceased human body in exchange for a reduced sentence of 10 years. Stephanie Jackson also pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting as well as tampering with a deceased body. The judge sentenced her to a maximum of 24 years in prison.
Dateline NBC‘s episode on Colorado rancher Jake Millison’s murder case airs on March 24, 2024.
