Some of the memorabilia held by fans from the days when Denise used to write back and interact with the bodybuilding community, amazing woman, no reason not to still view her this way...

Some shots of Denise from old WPW Newsletters:

The final photos of Denise were just tragic. A life out of balance.

The final photos of Denise were just tragic. A life out of balance.

No need to keep dragging her in the mud; she got entangled in gang-infested communities trying to do good only to bite off more than she could chew and got drawn into the things I presume she was trying to protect the kids from. Over here, it would do her and the users of this forum a great deal of justice if we focused on what she was able to deliver to the sport in the 10 years she was involved in it instead of becoming obsessed with misfortunes she faced in her 50s.

The final photos of Denise were just tragic. A life out of balance.

No need to keep dragging her in the mud; she got entangled in gang-infested communities trying to do good only to bite off more than she could chew and got drawn into the things I presume she was trying to protect the kids from. Over here, it would do her and the users of this forum a great deal of justice if we focused on what she was able to deliver to the sport in the 10 years she was involved in it instead of becoming obsessed with misfortunes she faced in her 50s.

Agree 100%.   
Alison

Although blurry, this is a picture of Denise in 2004 apparently she was still involved with the gym-life. Will try to get more information, if possible.

It's just a sad story that she had some much potential to do great things, but mental health issues stopped her.

It's just a sad story that she had some much potential to do great things, but mental health issues stopped her.

As always, anything surrounding this woman should be taken with a grain of salt; what evidence is there proving that she has mental issues? In many forums the notion that she is Bipolar is floated and kicked around again with zero evidence. She left the sport, justifiably so, after being swindled on two consecutive years due to judges' arbitrary, murky and subjective preferences (1992 NPC) and politics (no groundwork or sensual displays on stage- 1993 Ms O). Plus, she went and pursued what she felt most comfortable with, religion, nothing wrong with that. Yes, she MIGHT have been addicted to some stimulants but that's where we should show her sympathy instead of throwing her under the bus.

Moving away from the world of 'if's and 'but's, I had a short conversation with her mother, Sandra Rutkowski, today to see how Denise was doing this was her response:


Here is an image of Denise her mom kindly provided me with, hopefully this wont disappoint many who were expecting another mugshot photo


Will provide more updates when, and if, items of interest becoming available.

Although already posted, I was just recently able to obtain a better quality version of the image from Denise's mom in another conversation I had with her today, I will post later on some of takeaway points from that convo- Note: Nothing about Denise's whereabouts will be disclosed based on Denise's intention of not being identified due to professional and personal reasons.


2004 at a gym

Thanks for letting her fans here know about this.

I had the privilege of meeting Denise at the 1991 Olympia at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Very nice person. I'm glad to hear she's okay.  Back then, news in the bodybuilding world traveled slow. It was also the public debut of Tina Lockwood (I'll never forget her in that dark blue dress. She was an unknown then, but drew more attention than a lot of the big name stars) and Sharon Bruneau (who did a posing exhibition in the expo hall adjacent to the auditorium). Sharon's doing well, despite the recent loss of her husband. I'd like to know if Tina, wherever she is, is also doing well. All were nice and I had a ball. Unfortunately, it would be the last major contest I would ever attend. I may make a more detailed post in the bodybuilders you met in person thread.

I read her profile and read this......"Will be shutting this site down in a few days. By Denise MOM"

That message was posted in June, 2013.

In regards to the supposed Denise Rutkowski facebook page in the two quoted posts, turns out that Denise for a period of time has return to live and work with her mother. She got a facebook account during that period and with the help of her mother hence the message quoted above. However, her mother isn't tech savvy which is to be expected of a woman of her age , so had trouble deactivating it (Denise Rutkowski's FB account) which I reminded her of during our convo, I gave her some pointers on how to go about it, as she requested, and now if you click on the quoted  link below would see that it leads to nowhere because the account has been successfully deactivated. More details are becoming available but I have to make sure Denise's mom is okay with publicising them, for now, my goal to get some sort of consent to talk to Denise, only that would put an end to the maelstrom of secrecy, speculation and falsehoods circulating around this woman's life.

More to come!   

In this side on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/deniserutkowski?ref=br_rs

It's just a sad story that she had some much potential to do great things, but mental health issues stopped her.

As always, anything surrounding this woman should be taken with a grain of salt; what evidence is there proving that she has mental issues? In many forums the notion that she is Bipolar is floated and kicked around again with zero evidence. She left the sport, justifiably so, after being swindled on two consecutive years due to judges' arbitrary, murky and subjective preferences (1992 NPC) and politics (no groundwork or sensual displays on stage- 1993 Ms O). Plus, she went and pursued what she felt most comfortable with, religion, nothing wrong with that. Yes, she MIGHT have been addicted to some stimulants but that's where we should show her sympathy instead of throwing her under the bus.

Moving away from the world of 'if's and 'but's, I had a short conversation with her mother, Sandra Rutkowski, today to see how Denise was doing this was her response:


Here is an image of Denise her mom kindly provided me with, hopefully this wont disappoint many who were expecting another mugshot photo


Will provide more updates when, and if, items of interest becoming available.

Mental illness?  ....Since when does anybody have the right to make a diagnosis like that.   This woman was one of the greats of the sport and she made her mark.   Where she went from there is her journey and may have landed her in one of the best places ever doing what we should be doing, and that is caring for the well being of others and their future.  So many lives will be touched by that.

How many of us can say that?   Mentally ill ?.....no way.  She turned lemons into lemonade big time.

I am happy for her .

ALISON