In the winter of 2019, the life of 34-year-old Michael Rumberger, a male from Jersey City, was tragically cut short. On the evening of Saturday, December 7th, a report of potential criminal activity led Bayonne police to the area of 17th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard. There, they made a grim discovery inside the trunk of a Lincoln Town Car: the body of Michael Rumberger. It was evident he had suffered significant trauma to his head, and he was pronounced dead at the scene later that night.
In the days that followed, the investigation into Rumberger's death took a dramatic and violent turn, connecting his murder to a much larger and more terrifying event. Authorities identified two prime suspects in his killing: David Anderson, 47, and Francine Graham, 50. Rumberger, working as a livery driver, had reportedly picked up the pair. Investigators believe an altercation erupted, leading to Rumberger being shot and killed.
His body was then placed in the trunk of his own car, which was abandoned several miles from where the initial confrontation is thought to have occurred.
The full scope of Anderson and Graham's violent actions became terrifyingly clear just days after Rumberger's body was found. The duo went on to kill a Jersey City police detective, Joseph Seals, who was investigating Rumberger's murder. Following the detective's murder, Anderson and Graham launched a targeted attack on a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, killing three more innocent people before they were killed in the ensuing shootout with police. While no arrests could be made for the murder of Michael Rumberger due to the deaths of the suspects, authorities are confident that he was the first victim in a tragic and senseless killing spree.
