Teen's Death Ruled Suicide, Family Suspects Murder

In Russia, about a thousand children go missing every year. Most are found alive, but 5% die or are never found. In May 2023, 17-year-old Rustam (name changed), who lived in the Belokataysky District of Bashkortostan, left home. He was missed after a few days, but the search yielded no results; only in November of the same year was the boy found dead. For a long time, the family argued with investigators about the cause of death. Now, the case has been closed — UFA1.RU tells this story.

Three Days

Rustam was 17 years old at the time of his disappearance, living in the village of Novobelokatay in the Belokataysky District of Bashkortostan. He celebrated his birthday the day before he went missing. Generally, his 17th year was very important: his grandmother Elena and uncle wanted to give him a car, he was learning to drive, and later got his license.

The boy«s mother lived with a new family in Chelyabinsk Oblast, and his father was not around either. When everyone had moved away, he stayed alone in Novobelokatay, did well in school, and had friends. His mother kept inviting him to live with her, but the boy decided to stay in the village.

He received parental attention from two grandmothers. For some time, Rustam lived with Elena (name changed), but, as the woman recounted, his mother came to her with the police to take the boy away. Nevertheless, she continued to see her grandson.

They got along well — on the day of their last meeting, according to her, the boy, upon seeing her, ran up and hugged her. At that time, he was heading to the highway with a friend to go to the village to see his other grandmother — she lived in Yuldashevo, 30 kilometers from the district center. Elena gave him a thousand rubles (approximately $10 at current rates). They agreed to meet after the exam scheduled for May 28.

Rustam had already taken exams but wanted to retake them: after the 9th grade, he planned to become a programmer, but for some reason he failed to get into a program. As a result, he remained studying in his district, learning the profession of a welder on a paid basis.

“Rustam traveled to courses all year, preparing for exams additionally. I wrote to him a few days before the disappearance, asking if he would definitely come to the retake. He said he would definitely come, but first he would go to his grandmother [in Yuldashevo],” the boy«s teacher told UFA1.RU in 2023.

Relatives say that before leaving, he ironed his shirt and left, but no one saw him at school. The boy disappeared the day after his 17th birthday.

And since the boy lived separately from his parents, his disappearance was not noticed immediately, but only after three days. Then relatives turned to the police, who reported the case to the Investigative Committee, which on June 5 announced the search for the teenager.

Elena learned about the disappearance on June 1, when her grandson still did not show up. At school, they told her he had not come.

Investigators« logic in such cases is as follows: if a child goes missing, a criminal case for murder is initiated, which allows for large-scale searches, including conducting searches and tracing phones.

No one waits for three days; work begins immediately as information appears, first checking the parents: cases are not uncommon where after family quarrels, parents in a fit of rage may hit a child and then hide the body out of fear of punishment. Also, after family scandals, teenagers run away from home — and here too they face danger. For the investigation, this is a well-oiled mechanism developed over years of work.

Therefore, the Investigative Committee immediately suspected that Rustam from Novobelokatay might have been killed. Meanwhile, search teams received information that a boy resembling him was seen in Chelyabinsk Oblast, which borders the municipality — 70 kilometers from the district center is the city of Nyazepetrovsk.

The district also organized searches, gathered volunteers, and walked through forests looking for the boy. The village of Yuldashevo is surrounded by dense forests — if you get into them, you can wander dozens of kilometers in search of civilization.

In the fall, dogs from a search team from Chelyabinsk Oblast looked for Rustam«s traces: volunteers say their dogs could find both living and dead, but the canines covered 12 kilometers and found nothing. However, searchers saw relative positives in this: they now knew exactly where the boy was not. This meant the search area narrowed.

“Pale as a Mummy”

The 17-year-old teenager was searched for all summer and fall. Almost in winter, in early November 2023, Rustam«s body was found in the forest.

A source familiar with the search progress told UFA1.RU that the suicide version was considered immediately upon discovering the body. He noted that from the condition of the body, it was noticeable: it seemed to have lain in that place all summer.

“Not a sight for the faint-hearted,” the editorial source concluded.

Investigators only reported that the discovery site was examined and the body sent for examination. Rustam«s grandmother, in a conversation with UFA1.RU in 2023, said the boy could not have taken his own life.

“No, that can«t be, he was so full of life. I came to him all the time, twice a week. He was always with friends, he couldn»t, he couldn«t have laid hands on himself!” she said.

Moreover, the woman insisted: the boy«s body was almost intact when found. This meant that if the teenager had lain in the forest all summer, “almost nothing would have been left of him.”

“But he was almost whole, only pale all over and stiff, like a mummy,” the relative said.

Rustam«s teacher said she saw no decline in the student»s mood: he assured her he would definitely come to the exam.

In the summer of 2023, the parents sought help from psychics, but those, according to Rustam«s mother, could not help.

Mysteries of Death

The body was found in the area of the village of Yuldashevo, in the forest. A gamekeeper was walking through the area and stumbled upon it. One of the search participants said that volunteers definitely passed there — more than once, even with dogs.

“If the boy had been dead when we were nearby, we would not have missed it. In such heat in summer, smells spread quickly,” the volunteer noted.

A UFA1.RU source familiar with the search progress said that the body«s position indicated suicide.

“Everyone will tell you that this cannot be,” the deceased«s mother stated then.

“Just imagine what should have happened to a corpse that lay for three months. In the forest! In summer! In such heat,” the grandmother lamented.

The summer of 2023 was indeed very hot: according to Gismeteo, the maximum daytime temperature in July reached 36°C (97°F). The hotter it is outside, the faster the decomposition process, so from that perspective, everything looks logical.

“The corpse is indeed not old. So, I believe he ended up there quite recently,” a search participant told UFA1.RU in November 2023.

Rustam«s teacher was also aware of the searches and noted: it is known that he left in trousers and a shirt, but was found “in something resembling pajamas.” A backpack was found near the boy that had not faded in the sun. The teacher said the boy»s passport was dirty, and the money his grandmother gave was not found with him.

Murder Version

Investigators identified a suspect even before the body was found: in the summer, they detained 39-year-old local resident Mikhail (name changed). The man was in a relationship with Rustam«s 17-year-old classmate. As the girl herself said, they had a marriage contract.

Investigators believed that on May 28, Mikhail hit the boy out of jealousy, and he died from the single contact. According to the family«s version, which they expressed in 2023, the man confessed to everything: allegedly he hid the body, and several months later staged a suicide. The detained man»s girlfriend said with confidence that he did not kill her classmate, claiming that on that day he did not come to her, so neither of them saw him.

The family found this strange and believed the man had accomplices who planted the corpse. However, a UFA1.RU source said that after the body was found, the murder version began to seem implausible. He again noted that everything looked like suicide.

When relatives went on television, they told of another unfortunate incident: Rustam«s best friend fell from a fifth-floor balcony and died, and 40 days later the missing boy»s body was found. The first boy«s relatives believed he might have been killed. However, the Investigative Committee refused to initiate a case.

Psychic Aza Petrenko suggested that Rustam was indeed killed — supposedly for money, but the culprit was not Mikhail. The medium believed the killer was acquainted with the boy«s mother, but who it was — she did not say.

In February 2024, the story reached Moscow: the head of Russia«s Investigative Committee demanded a report. By that time, Ufa lawyer Roman Petrov had joined the case: according to him, the examination showed that the body had been moved, and the death was violent. The previously detained Mikhail was released because investigators could not charge him with anything.

“A female DNA genotype was found at the crime scene. The date and cause of death could not be determined due to the body«s decomposition,” Roman Petrov reported then.

They could not isolate the genotype from the evidence available to investigators. The examination, even with the most modern technologies, reached a dead end.

“Whose DNA it was — they cannot determine today. But DNA is such a thing that after some time it«s hard to tie to anyone, but it is specifically female. They established obvious things: that he was moved, he did not die in this place, DNA was found, but beyond that — nothing. There is a suspect, but they can»t prove anything,” the lawyer commented.

A UFA1.RU source familiar with the situation noted: the examination established that Rustam died immediately, they just couldn«t find him in time. This refutes the psychics» version: they believed the boy was held captive and then killed.

“The argument that he was found where they walked is quite debatable. That in this place they passed meter by meter and didn«t see him, no one said that,” our interlocutor stated.

In December 2025, UFA1.RU learned that the case was closed — it was suicide. Relatives still do not believe this version.

“Relatives do not agree, we wrote complaints on this matter, but the investigation did not change its verdict. Recognized as suicide. Of course, we believe the boy could not have ended his own life in the forest. There was initially a suspect, he was released,” the lawyer commented.

Rustam«s body was buried at the end of November 2023. We also contacted the boy»s grandmother, but she did not respond to messages.

Recall that in 2025, UFA1.RU told difficult stories about missing children. The longest unsolved cases are Kenan Mustafabeyli and Yaroslav Chepkov: both disappeared after a rest at a camp near Ufa. Also still missing are four girls and two boys. Two other boys were found during 2025 — unfortunately, dead.