Viswa Vanapalli
Towards the end of 2017, David Rathbun’s family began worrying when they couldn’t reach him by phone. Suspecting something was wrong, they called the authorities and eventually discovered that David had been murdered. The first half of Investigation Discovery’s ‘In Pursuit with John Walsh: Murder at the Mall’ focuses on what led to David’s slaying and who the police believed was responsible. So, if you’re curious about the same, we’ve got you covered.
How Did David Rathbun Die?
David Stuart Rathbun was born in November 1955 and spent most of his life in New York. After college, he worked for over three decades as a CPA and tax manager at an accounting firm. In July 2015, David moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to enjoy his retirement. At the time, he got into hiking and biking and joined a bowling club. Everything seemed to be going well for the 62-year-old, but things changed soon about two years later.
By mid-October 2017, David’s family members hadn’t heard from him over the phone. All they got were text messages that seemed suspicious. Soon, they found that David’s house was sold, and there were transactions in his bank account. So, he was reported missing on October 16, 2017. The authorities eventually received a tip that led them to a mine shaft in a desert near Dolan Springs in Arizona. They found David’s decomposed remains and identified them through dental records. As per the show, the cause of death was undetermined, but the police believed David was murdered.
Who Killed David Rathbun?
The family told the police that David Rathbun had met a woman online sometime before his disappearance. Her name was Jolene Hibbs, with David telling his family that he wanted to help her out because she had cancer and was down on her luck. He eventually let Jolene and her boyfriend, Charlie Ausiello, live at his place. However, things appeared to have taken a turn for the worse when David told loved ones that he wanted Jolene and Charlie to leave.
Throughout the first half of October, David’s daughters and others only received texts from him; they could not talk to him over the phone. Later, they found out that David’s home in Las Vegas was sold under market price, which struck them as odd. Besides, David’s belongings, including his bike and a car, were sold. In 2018, the authorities said there was fraudulent activity in David’s bank account, leading to more suspicion regarding what happened to him.
The police then searched David’s former house and found that the carpeting in the closet of one of the bedrooms didn’t match the rest of the house. Testing revealed blood evidence, later confirmed to be David’s. Similarly, the authorities found David’s blood in the trunk of his car that was sold. This led the police to believe that he was possibly murdered. But it wasn’t until June 2018 that a tip led to more information.
According to the show, a man came up to the authorities, saying he knew Jolene and Charlie. He claimed that Jolene had asked him to come by David’s home to clean out some of his belongings and asked for help moving what appeared to be a dead body wrapped in some bedsheets. According to the tipster, they loaded the body into his vehicle, and as he drove, Jolene followed him. He mentioned being in fear for his life, so he lost Jolene on some back road and dumped the body in a mine shaft, where the police eventually found the remains.
Jolene Hibbs and Charles Ausiello Are Yet to be Found Today
The authorities believed that Jolene Hibbs and Charles Ausiello killed David for his money. In 2018, they also mentioned looking for a third, unidentified person in connection to this case. It was reported that Jolene and Charles had a history of fraud-related arrests and convictions, and in 2020, they were charged with David’s murder. The police believed that the duo was known to visit the Boulder Highway corridor in Nevada. As per the show, Jolene and Charles are drug users and could look differently now, in addition to them possibly not being a couple anymore.
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