BALTIMORE COUNTY — A Baltimore County judge has granted level 3 home detention for Dwight Rust Jr., the man accused of murder in the disappearance of Michelle Rust, WMAR-2 News' Jack Watson reports.
Dwight has been held without bail since his arrest on April 21.
The arrest came following two decades of investigation into Michelle's disappearance.
BREAKING: A Baltimore County judge grants level 3 home detention for Dwight Rust Jr, the husband accused of murder in his wife, Michelle’s 2002 disappearance. Trial date still not set. @WMAR2News
— Jack Watson (@JackWatsonTV) May 6, 2026
RELATED: Husband charged with murder in Michelle Rust's 2002 disappearance
Michelle was last seen on July 20, 2002. At the time, Dwight told police Michelle left in the morning to pick up things up for their son's birthday party but did not return. Shortly after she vanished, her father-in-law found her Dodge van parked empty about 10 minutes away on Zion Road in Halethorpe.
During a court appearance on April 22, prosecutors with the State's Attorney's Office argued that Dwight Rust was having an affair and was taking steps to start a new life with another woman at the time of Michelle's disappearance.
Jeremy Eldridge, Rust's defense attorney, called Dwight Rust a victim in the case, and said Rust has never failed to cooperate with police. Eldridge was flanked by Dwight Rust's current wife, family, and friends outside the courtroom.
MORE: Husband, accused of murder in wife’s 2002 disappearance, to be held without bail
A trial date has not yet been set.
