Do you know who murdered Edward Rusboldt? On May 31, 1986, the body of 23-year-old Edward Robert Rusboldt, a male Purdue University student, was discovered on the tree-lined 1900 block of Sunderland Place NW, near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. He had been visiting the city for the summer break to meet with friends from the area. The night before his death, Rusboldt had been out with friends at local bars and nightclubs.
According to his father, Charles Rusboldt, Edward had left a Dupont Circle bar around 3 a.m.
to look for a female friend who had left earlier. His friends lost track of him and their car. After a 45-minute search, his friends found their car and returned to Arlington. When Edward didn't show up the next day, they contacted the police. He had been scheduled to travel back to Indiana later that day to attend his older brother's wedding reception.
An autopsy revealed that Edward Rusboldt died from compression of the neck and chest, with blunt force injuries to his face and head. Police believe the motive for the attack was a robbery that escalated. His wallet was reported to have been taken. Despite the area being frequented by pedestrians, investigators were unable to identify any suspects. Witness descriptions were varied, with some mentioning a group of Black males, while others described seeing Korean and Vietnamese gangs in the vicinity. The case remains an unsolved homicide under investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department.
