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All That We Know The Vanishing of Mike Rust number 35 $8.95 US $9.95 CAN Survivor of Survivors www.mountainflyer.com Lindsey Voreis Damn the Momos Underfueled in Nepal There’s No BS Built Into A Soulcraft Display until April 30, 2014 Mike Rust, in his prime, is hard at work inside Colorado Cyclery in Salida. Rust and Don McClung put Salida on America’s map. Compliments of the family of Mike Rust

26 BY CHRIS KASSAR

27 the mysterious murder of a member of the Hall of Fame. Nagged by the haunting questions that remained, this duo jumped in the deep end and started digging. At first, their inquiries met with resistance and fear; people warned them to leave the past where it belonged, but with persistence and time, they gained the trust of Mike’s family and friends. “If you’re going to ask people to bare their souls, you have to take time to get to know them,” explains Ward, who believes the extra effort was worth it. “You don’t always find compelling stories in your backyard, but this is a story worth telling, worth spending our life energy on.” Fueled by the desire to make a difference, these intrepid storytellers have dedicated every last spare dollar and moment to crafting “The Rider and The Wolf,” a docu-narrative that celebrates Mike’s life and contribution to

Compliments of the family of Mike Rust mountain biking and delves into the effect that his disappearance and five years of fruitless searching for him have had on those who love Moments of impact come in all forms and him. “The first scene we shot for the film was usually hit when we least expect them. a re-enactment of what is known about the Regardless of the shape they take—a phone last hour of Mike’s life,” Ward says. “We shot call in the middle of the night, a sweet it on the exact day he disappeared, the exact glance from a stranger, a collision with a hour and at the exact spot where the searchers semi-truck—these blips in time and how we found Mike’s bloody vest years before.” An respond to them can irrevocably alter our actor played Mike and, oddly enough, Mike’s lives. Mike Rust’s moment came five years ago brothers played the perpetrators. when he jumped on his dirt bike and headed As if recreating the day of his death out into the uncertain twilight seeking justice. with his family’s participation wasn’t eerie Half a decade has passed since that enough, a year of filming throughout fateful evening, but the question of who Colorado brimmed with equally unnerving killed “Mike the Bike” still lingers below experiences. They joined a posse armed to the surface in this remote and wild part of the teeth on body hunts, dropped cameras Colorado. So, when Nathan Ward and Sam down mine shafts in search of bones and Bricker—passionate cyclists, natives of the interviewed those who still doggedly wander area and the creative minds behind Grit the hills hoping to find a clue. and Thistle Film Co.—were throwing out “All you have to do is think about what ideas for their next documentary film, it it would be like to lose a brother or sister made sense that Mike Rust came up. “Why and not know … never know perhaps in has no one told the story of Mike Rust’s this case,” Ward says. “His family hasn’t disappearance?” Ward asks. “Mike and Don given up. They are still hurting and looking McClung inspired me to start mountain for resolution because a vital part of their biking back when Salida was a town with life has been ripped out. If not justice, they very few options for kids. We looked up at least want the peace of knowing where to them and realized there was this whole Mike’s body was hidden. It doesn’t matter new sport that we could pursue right in our how it went down or who started the backyard. They made Salida the mountain confrontation, they need to know.” bike town it is today.” The goal of the film, however, is not to There was a little blip of news around solve the crime. “We want to tell the story the time Mike vanished, but then the story as it should have been told in the beginning. disappeared much like he did. It didn’t Mike was a guy who shaped mountain biking, seem right to Bricker and Ward that such and he made Salida the town that it is, but he a tragic story had essentially dried up and chose a different path. Just because you move blown away with barely a whisper—not out to the middle of nowhere and live simply, a single bike magazine had written about your life is not worth any less,” Ward says.

28 KLUNKERING AROUND IN 1980 One cool fall morning, dozens mull around the tiny Colorado mountain town of Crested Butte in various states of readiness and disarray. Some nurse their hangovers, others eat a quick snack or finish last-minute fixes, while a few stow random bike parts and toss sleeping bags into a truck. Someone rolls a joint. The pungent smell of weed fills the air. Eventually, the high-energy crowd made largely of locals and Californians gathers. Folks chat with their neighbors. Irreverent comments fly through the pack. Embarrassing moments from last night are relived. Another joint works its way from rider to rider. Then … “On your mark, get set, go!” With that last word, a motley crew of about 90—many donning white, knee-high, tube socks, thick beards, khaki shorts and sneakers—hops on trusty, two-wheeled Compliments of Kay Caunt of Criterium Bicycles steeds and heads for the hills. Amid hoots, hollers, a cloud of dust and a noticeable lack of spandex, the 1980 Crested Butte to Aspen building better bikes fly across the fire. Once Klunker Classic begins. Though technically the keg is kicked and heads are filled to the this is just a tour (and not a race), a few brim with possibility, folks stumble off and riders grit their teeth and push ahead early; curl up under the starry sky. They dream it’s a matter of pride for the rough and sweetly and rise ready to ride another day. tumble Coloradans to crush—or at least put No one could imagine that almost 30 the hurt on—the “fancy-pants” Californians years down the trail, one of their Mountain and vice versa. Bike Hall of Fame counterparts—the For the next two days, this ragtag bunch humble, free-spirited visionary Mike Rust— partakes in a rowdy and unforgettable high- would disappear, leaving behind nothing altitude party masquerading as a grueling but a shattered gun, blood in the dust and 40-mile mountain bike ride. Leading the way broken hearts. Mountain Bike Hall of Fame over the rugged and breathtaking Pearl Pass are recognizable names: , Charlie FATEFUL NIGHT IN 2009 Kelly, Charlie Cunningham, Joe Breeze, Wende “I didn’t want to believe it. I just kept Top: Mike Rust pauses during a ride in Crested Cragg, Denise Carmagno and Scot Nicol. thinking this can’t be,” says Mike’s youngest Butte, Colo., in the klunker days before production mountain bikes. The filmmakers found this photo Mike Rust, a lesser-known name but an brother, Marty Rust, about the call he hanging on the wall of Criterium Bicycles in Colorado equally dazzling rider and innovator, keeps received from his brother, Paul, on the chilly Springs, where Mike used to wrench. pace with these future superstars. Mike’s eyes evening of April 1, 2009. Above: A group of riders enjoys a photo opp on Pearl twinkle with a brilliance that matches the Earlier that day, Mike’s longtime friend Pass in the late ’70s/early ’80s. Included are many Colorado sky as he charges up the muddy Mary Ann Bavaria called Paul in a flurry of of the future stars (and rebels) of mountain biking, path ahead. Most carry nothing because the concern. The day before, March 31, 2009, along with two fugitives living under assumed names in Crested Butte. ride is supported, but Mike prides himself Mike drove the 45 minutes to Salida. He ran Left: How many men could two wheel drift a high on self-sufficiency. Giant navy blue panniers errands, went food shopping and took Mary wheeler on dirt? hang off the front and back of the light Ann out to lunch. He returned home—a green frame he built himself; a bedroll lies unique homestead on 80 acres of untamed behind his seat and assorted sacks rest in land outside the sleepy town of Saguache— front of his handlebars. Mike pedals with the near 6 p.m. and noticed tire tracks heading grace and ease of a true cyclist and doesn’t around the west side of his house; you would hesitate to offer help in the form of riding only park there if you intended to remain tips, a mechanical hand or moral support to hidden from view. Mike entered his house struggling riders. on high alert. He noticed his binoculars At camp, this handsome young man were slightly out of place and a revolver kicks back, enjoys a few cold ones and revels was missing. These clues confirmed Mike’s in the company of old and new friends alike. worst fears. In a fit of rage, he called Mary Plans for future riding exploits and ideas for Ann and told her he was going to follow the

29 Compliments of the family of Mike Rust Compliments of the family of Mike Rust

motorcycle tracks heading away from his stained with blood in a pattern suggesting Left: Mike takes a break at his home in Saguache house because “someone had to teach these he’d been struck from behind. Here, less near the time of his disappearance. guys a lesson.” than a mile from his house, the sheriff also Above: The producers film the fight scene with Mike Mary Ann hadn’t heard from him since. found the butt of Mike’s stolen revolver, one Rust’s brothers and actor Curtis Imrie on the actual site where Mike was murdered. The crew filmed on He wasn’t answering his phone and her visit set of tire tracks heading toward the highway March 31—the same day, at the same time of day, to his place revealed an empty house with and clumps of dirt soaked in blood. Days four years later. sacks of groceries still lying on the floor. later, a tracker brought in by the family, Unwilling to wait until day break, Marty, evaluated this sight and identified signs the youngest of seven in a tight-knit Irish of a scuffle. Family and friends continued family, sprung into action and headed from searching, but nothing surfaced until a Colorado Springs to the San Luis Valley. month later. On May 3, a family on ATVs He arrived at Mike’s shortly after midnight found Mike’s red and white Honda CRF 250 on April 2 and began scouring the hills. “I Enduro motorcycle resting on its side about rode for hours. It was a weird, blustery, eerie 65 feet off a very rough road above Cotton night. His place was wide open, a motorcycle Creek, a drainage more than 20 miles across was knocked down, doors were flapping in the valley from Mike’s place. The lights were the wind.… It was like something out of a on and the gas tank was empty. Experts movie. I’ll never forget riding around in that evaluated the scene and concluded that this strange, ghost-like feeling.” wasn’t an accidental crash; someone had At dawn, Paul, the second oldest of the deliberately dumped the bike off the edge Rust clan, joined the search. “We rode all of this distant path within the week. Who day… following tracks and expecting to find would be brazen enough to hide Mike’s him crashed in a gully, but by nighttime, we motorcycle for almost a month while a knew it was more serious than that,” says search commenced all around them? Paul, who then called the authorities. “Mike To this day, no one except those was a badger when it came to doing what involved knows exactly what happened after he wanted, and if there was any way he was Mike headed out into the quickly darkening alive, nothing would have kept him from desert. Theories abound, but evidence being back at his beloved rancho.” suggests he may have seen two or more Once they alerted law enforcement, an shadows buzzing along the horizon and set aerial and ground search ensued that enlisted off alone in hot pursuit. When he caught the help of family, friends, dogs, planes, up to the individuals he believed violated Black Hawk helicopters, horses and off-road his sanctuary, a violent confrontation likely vehicles. On the evening of April 4, four followed during which Mike met a bad days after his disappearance, investigators end—perhaps at the hands of a person discovered their first clue: Mike’s gray vest holding the very gun stolen from his house.

30 Compliments of the family of Mike Rust Compliments of the family of Mike Rust

Right: Mike’s bikes. Mike Rust is a man proud of and THE ‘MIKE RUST STANDARD’ mountain bike, so we were just piecing happy with his bike collection, including one of the In 1989, Mike scrawled these three simple things together,” Cook says. “Mike had such first mountain bike tandems ever built. words—Not Done Yet—on a Mountain Bike a mechanical mind that if something wasn’t Above: Five of the six Rolling Rust Brothers—Marty, Hall of Fame questionnaire that asked him available, he’d say, ‘Let’s build it ourselves.’” Chris, Mike, Joe and Paul—make high wheelers in the early days. They considered a high wheeler the to describe his contribution to the sport. Each year starting in 1976, the equally most regal ride. Even amid consideration for a prestigious obsessed and enamored riders from Marin honor, Mike did not brag. “Mike avoided journeyed to Colorado for the Pearl Pass the spotlight and worked quietly behind Klunker Classic. It was here that mountain the scenes to change the face of riding in biking’s best discovered Mike’s prowess in his own way,” says Don Cook, a riding both the saddle and the shop. Inevitably, the icon known for pioneering countless trails guys from California—known for having and launching the first ever mountain superior bikes at first—would come to bike advocacy club, which inspired others, Crested Butte and have their socks blown off including IMBA, to shoot up around the by a new component or piece of technology. globe. “If you were doing a story on him and “They’d ask, ‘Where’d you get that?’ and his accomplishments, instead of the fact that usually, the answer was, ‘Mike Rust made he’s missing, he would be funny and witty it,’” Cook says. beyond anything you could imagine, but he Even Gary Fisher admits being moved certainly wouldn’t talk about himself.” by Mike’s genius. “Everyone brought all Mike held fast to his ideals and his their latest innovations to Crested Butte, vision for furthering the sport because he but one of the most impressive guys I saw was a “true cyclist,” not just a bike rider. “He out there was Mike Rust. Mike understood loved the simplicity of traveling by bicycle. convention, he understood an idea, but then He lived by bicycle and wanted others to could take it to a whole different place. I love also—instead of living off of what he called that kind of innovation,” Fisher recalls. dead dinosaur juice,” Cook says. Mike advanced the sport by solving When these two kindred spirits met in many problems consistently plaguing riders 1980, “klunkering” was in its infancy. Not of the day; he built lighter wheels, axles that many people had taken to it yet, but two wouldn’t break and seatposts that wouldn’t zealous enclaves of riders dominated: one bend. “Nothing stock was up to the ‘Mike in Crested Butte and one in Marin County, Rust Standard,’ so he became a master at Calif. Mike’s ingenious mind, wrenching modifying premade equipment,” Cook skills and bike handling prowess made him explains. “By bettering any and all parts, he an invaluable addition to the burgeoning made bikes that could not only leave town, Crested Butte riding community. “You but could also make it back to town. That couldn’t go to the store and buy a good definitely changed klunkering.”

31 unusual ideas that would boost pedal- powered machines. They envisioned a streamlined design that would climb better, so they created the “shortie,” which had a tighter frame, elevated chainstay and seat right over the rear axle for added traction and improved handling. Shortly thereafter, elevated chainstays showed up in other brands like Mantis, Nishiki and Fisher. “Mike’s bike ‘the shortie’ was an inspiration to me,” Fisher says. “I made a number of bikes using a super-short chainstay like he was doing, but with a different design. He had the right idea. It was a great principle.” Mike played a key role in the evolution of bicycles, but his influence didn’t stop there. For Mike—just like most of us—the bicycle represented youth and independence. He embodied this spirit and wanted others to experience it. “He was an activist in the way he lived. He was the real thing,” Marty says. “Cycling was a way of life, a way to enjoy life and be free of ‘the man,’ and he tried to convert as many people as he could.” Through his actions, he helped so many discover the bicycle’s magic. He built the first tandem mountain bike so he could make others fall in love with riding on dirt. He taught numerous first-timers, especially women and kids, but also never turned down the opportunity to crush it with more experienced guys on a hilly ride. And he used his fondness for “ordinaries,” aka penny farthings, to further inspire the masses and bring his family even closer. He and the Rolling Rust Brothers gained infamy and wowed a multitude of riders by showing off extraordinary, high-wheeler Compliments of the family of Mike Rust skills in challenging events like Ride the Rockies. In Mike’s opinion, ordinaries were Legends of Colorado Cyclery Don McClung and Mike He passed his passion and talent on to “the most graceful, most casual, most regal Rust display their famed Shorty bike in the late 1980s Cook, a willing and enthusiastic student. “I bicycles ever made,” and they—or any bike in Salida. knew from the day I met Mike that he was for that matter—came with only two rules. something. I knew it, clung to it and tried to “The second rule is have all the fun you can. learn everything I could,” Cook says. “One But the first rule is you gotta be able to live of his biggest contributions is the influence he through it.” had on me because I took that and expanded Mike’s contagious playfulness, it,” explains Cook, who has been instrumental unmatched generosity, bright smile and in shaping the sport through advocacy and his extreme patience left a lasting mark on work as an innovator at Shimano Japan. “All those he met on and off the trail. Thus, the credit for what I’ve done really goes to perhaps his greatest legacy lives on not in Mike and what he taught me.” the components he developed, but in the After a few years in the Butte, Mike countless people he taught and inspired to moved to Salida and opened a custom just get out and ride. bike shop called Colorado Cyclery, with “He brought so much joy to a sport that Don McClung, a championship racer who is continuing to expand in huge percentages shared Mike’s philosophy and devotion to yearly. He was a connoisseur of the cycling cycling. Together, they used “imagineering” craze and he knew more—maybe the most of (one of many Mike-isms) to develop fresh, anyone,” Cook says.

32 GOING OFF THE GRID In a twist of irony, the town Mike helped create became too busy. Tourists descended on Salida, and it got louder than he liked. “He was feeling crowded in,” Cook explains. In 1994, Mike sold his shop and bought a slice of desolate but tranquil land 40 miles to the south. With his own hands and the help of friends, he created an efficient, off-the-grid home that afforded him self-reliance and freedom. He dug his compound into the base of Copper Butte, a tiny bump that rises from the barren sagebrush sea of the San Luis Valley. The windswept land surrounding his haven is rugged and dappled only with the muted shades of gold rabbit brush, light green sage and khaki desert sand. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains burst from the Compliments of the family of Mike Rust otherwise flat land, rising like sentinels across the valley. It is easy to imagine Mike sitting on his sun porch, sipping a steaming cup of java while taking in “a million dollars worth of view.” The wide-open landscape with nothing but big sky overhead feels somehow empty and full at the same time. Mike wanted to be closer to nature, and even his building process prioritized its protection. “It was funny. When we started building, he wouldn’t let anyone use a hammer,” chuckles Carl Rust, the oldest of the clan. “He said it would disrupt the eagles and the snakes, so everyone was out there with screwdrivers.” His resourceful nature, environmental ethic and frugality motivated him to see how little he could use. To that end, he cobbled together much of the house using others’ castoffs. Bike tubes insulated Grit and Thistle Film windows, car seats acted as furniture, random doors created entries and exits, sheets replaced curtains. “He got upset about still prevail, but he also knew there was no Top: Mike’s “solar shack” at the base of Copper society and how wasteful people were,” Paul other viable option. Mike needed space to Butte just outside of Saguache, Colo., is the scene of says. “It was a personal challenge to live as breathe where he could be free from the the break-in. simply as possible.” trappings of society and where he did not Above: A $25,000 reward is available for anyone who Even with the move, Mike kept have to answer to anyone. Like cycling, can help solve the disappearance of Mike Rust. Tips can be submitted anonymously to relationships strong. He visited his mom living remotely on his “island in the cove” www.MissingMikeRust.com. often, cultivated special bonds with nieces provided the peace, autonomy and liberty and nephews and spent time with friends he needed. Unfortunately, it was the very and brothers riding bikes, building model pursuit and defense of these values that airplanes and hanging on his land. “He just ultimately led to his demise and shattered loved that place,” Paul says. “I couldn’t stand the lives of those he cherished. it. It was godforsaken, desolate, barren, dusty, windy, snake infested…but he loved it. MEMORIAL: WAVES OF HEARTACHE It was away from people. It was all his own. Countless cards with kind words fill a book He could control it.” from Mike’s memorial service. One reads: Or so he thought…. He was every man’s brother, every child’s Mike wasn’t blind to the risks associated uncle, every mother’s son. He was my friend. with living in isolation where poverty, And another: While he may not have had lawlessness and the Wild West mentality wealth, he lived a life well lived. He will be

33 Some blame officials for not finalizing the DNA and forensic analysis in a timely manner (it took two years) and for still not changing the case’s priority level so it would receive more attention and resources. The impact of these factors remains unclear, but the giant, silent expanse of the San Luis Valley—a place frozen in time and dominated by lawlessness—where Mike chose to make his home, played a huge role in his saga. Saguache is the poorest and largest county in Colorado, yet the monumental task of keeping order in the eight small communities scattered across its 3,146 square miles of isolated terrain falls to a small staff. Simple math suggests that this leaves solid chunks of each day with no one watching. This, coupled with the fact that the valley is a big raw area with lots of back roads, hidden corners, mine shafts, mountains, private land and people who keep to themselves, make Saguache County perfect for making up the rules as you go. Many of those who have sought answers (including a reporter, private investigator and the main investigator on the case) no longer live in the valley. Innumerable excuses exist, but the reason doesn’t really matter. Mike is still gone. Compliments of the family of Mike Rust He placed his keys on the table, plugged his phone into the charger, parked his car in Mike Rust poses on one of his early klunker remembered by many—the sign of a man’s the driveway and disappeared. Everything is conversions, drum brakes and all. Mike was a true worth. in its place, except for him. When a person master of the cruiser conversion in the days before Mike’s disappearance sent waves of vanishes, they leave a lasting mark on those production mountain bikes. heartache among those close to him. Some, who care. Such a weight cannot be lightened like Cook, wanted to picture Mike living until some closure is found. So for those close on a beach in Mexico instead of facing the to him, Mike’s disappearance was not an end heinous reality. “But as evidence arose, but rather a beginning. bloody clothes and such, it became clear. “Whoever did this was devious enough Plus, he’d never do that to his family or to think they had to take him. That’s just those he loved. So eventually I took a picture cold,” Carl says. “Every day we think: Where out to my shop and put it up to remind me did he go? And all we’re left with is: He just that this was once my best friend but that disappeared. That’s the hardest part.” now he was gone.” Now, five years later, the search for Even though Mike’s life touched many, clues, answers, the perpetrators and a few beyond the confines of Colorado body continues. Without any recent help heard of his plight. After the initial search, from authorities on this “cold case,” Mike’s there was no major outcry, only a few siblings must fight to keep the story alive. news headlines and little help from law The family is still offering $25,000 for enforcement despite continued prodding information, and there is a new website, by Mike’s family and friends. How could www.MissingMikeRust.com, where people the perplexing disappearance of a 56-year can send in tips anonymously. old man—a standup citizen and one of Knowing the family’s high hopes, the mountain biking’s own—cause such a tiny filmmakers have had to push through their flash in the pan? fair share of challenges to tell Mike’s story. There’s no simple answer to this “We’ve been on edge because we never frustrating question. Maybe Mike’s low-key know if we are encountering danger or not,” nature allowed people to overlook his plight, Bricker says. “With an unsolved mystery, you or maybe fear forced people into silence. don’t know who did it, nobody knows who

34 did it, so they could be watching or show up at any time.” For this reason, they have constantly wrestled with knowing how deep to dig. “You can’t tell a story accurately without being involved, but you can tell the story without getting fully immersed,” Ward says. “Very independent people live out in the valley, and they aren’t interested in talking, whether they know something or not. We both grew up in the area and know that walking up to stranger’s place and asking questions is not something you do lightly. You do enough to tell the story, then you mind your own business.” Uncertainty—the kind that comes from investigating a heinous act committed 40 minutes from your home—has taken an emotional toll on these filmmakers, who are both husbands and fathers. “We’re probably stupid to confront danger and mystery in our own backyard, but once you get so far in, you have to keep going,” Ward says. “Most people with missing family don’t get another chance. This is their last chance, and we want to show them that the biking community still cares.”

STILL SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS Photo compliments of Frank Staub With nothing left to lose, the Rusts, led by Marty, follow up on all possible leads whether they come from anonymous witness,” Paul says. “I think about him every Mike rides on a Pearl Pass-CB tour in the late 1970s, informants, trackers or “seers,” such as day and sometimes I think: Maybe if I just carrying all his own gear on a bike that he built the Peruvian woman who approached Carl think about it hard enough, I’ll be able to himself. He liked to do things in a way he thought to be “pure.” during his first meeting with Ward at the figure it out and solve it. But really there are First Street Café, a restaurant in Salida too many dead ends and questions.” where Mike worked. This fifth generation So, while some seek closure in curandera (or shaman) had never met searching, others ride to find it. Carl, but she said that his brother was “I remember one year Mike got tired communicating from the other side. Mike of winter, so he loaded up his bike with told her his spirit was stuck, and he wouldn’t gear and rode to Arizona,” says Paul, a be able to move on and find peace until machinist who owns Rocky Mountain someone found his body. Weeks later, the High Wheels in Colorado Springs. Paul curandera led a search party to the spot just finished restoring Mike’s old Carlton, a she was shown in a vision, but no body or lightweight British road bike, to its original bones were found. She said Mike’s killers 1966 condition and plans to explore the had gotten wind of the search and moved the Southwest Arizona desert this spring by body before they could get there. retracing Mike’s route. Marty admits that years of seeking “Even now he’s still inspiring me,” answers with nothing but dead ends like Paul says with a mix of sadness and pride. this one have been draining but have not “I’m really looking forward to touring and weakened his resolve. “I’m never going to especially on his bike so … thanks, Mike,” give up. I can’t. Mike never would have given he says motioning to the sky. up on any of us. How could I? … Plus, I Mike may be gone, but his legacy figure Mike caught up with whoever did this, lives on in the lives he touched, the bikes eventually someone else will.…” we ride, family members who wander the But, not everyone believes the answers desert searching, folks who grind up Pearl remain out in the desert. “I think the answer Pass each year and in every inspired pedal can only come from the perpetrators or a stroke.

35 Nathan Ward

“THE RIDER AND THE WOLF” coming to a theater near you

The film premieres this spring in select communities. Stay tuned to “The Rider and the Wolf” movie website for details.

See the trailer at: www.RiderAndWolfMovie.com Learn more at: www.GritAndThistle.com The Rust family is still offering a $25,000 reward for information regarding Mike’s disappearance. Submit tips anonymously to: www.MissingMikeRust.com.

Nathan Ward

Top: Director Sam Bricker tries to jury rig a stabilizer for shooting at 50 mph out of the sunroof of a speeding car on a dirt road. Middle: Filmmaking tools: A Red Epic and a P89 are seen on location in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. Bottom: The crew films the remnants of Mike’s huge RC plane collection inside his solar shack. He was building the “Saguache Intergalactic Airport” (all by Grit and Thistle Film hand) in front of the shack when he went missing.

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