Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Mother missing in Anoka County is declared dead

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — A Columbia Heights woman who has been missing since last August has been declared dead.

The family of 57-year-old Judy Lynn Rush had sought an order from a judge after a medical examiner determined that Rush could not have survived losing the volume of blood that was found Aug. 22 in her apartment. Rush's body has not been found.

An Anoka County judge ruled Monday that Rush couldn't be alive.

The judge's ruling has offered a hint of closure for Rush's family. But her sister, Melissa Cuddeback, said the family still hopes police will find who killed Rush.

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