Small Town Murder - #574 - Murder Selfies - Lucin, Utah

Episode Date: March 1, 2025

This week, in Lucin, Utah, a genuine mystery grips this extremely rural area, when a young man, trying to farm some remote land, disappears into thin air. There are a few suspects, including ...a local criminal, who walks the area with no shoes, and a big gun. There's also the local squatter, who seems to have had trouble with everyone. Eventually, some very incriminating pictures, from a retrieved cell phone solve the whole thing!!Along the way, we find out that land in ghost towns is super affordable, that rumors & gossip seem to be more ridiculous & spread faster, the smaller the town, and that you should never take a picture of yourself, with the victim's phone, while covered in blood!!New episodes every Thursday!Donate at: patreon.com/crimeinsports or go to paypal.com and use our email: crimeinsports@gmail.comGo to shutupandgivememurder.com for all things Small Town Murder & Crime In Sports!Follow us on...twitter.com/@murdersmallfacebook.com/smalltownpodinstagram.com/smalltownmurderAlso, check out James & Jimmie's other show, Crime In Sports! On Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Wondery, Wondery+, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:25 For complete details, visit boosterjuice.com. In the depths of an Atlanta forest, a clash between activists and authorities ends in tragedy. I'm Matthew Scherr, and on my new podcast, We Came to the Forest, we expose the hidden truths behind a shootout that left one dead, and countless lives forever changed. Binge all episodes of We Came to the Forest ad-free on Wondery Plus. Hello everybody and welcome back to Small Town Murder Express. Yay choo choo. Oh yay indeed Jimmy.
Starting point is 00:01:15 My name is James Petragallo, I'm here with my co-host. I'm Jimmy Wissman. Thank you folks so much for joining us all aboard the murder train pulling away from the station. We got of course a crazy one as always station. We got, of course, a crazy one, as always, on Small Town Murder. And of course, Small Town Murder Express. We're going to stuff 10 pounds of murder in a two pound bag.
Starting point is 00:01:32 And we really have that this week, because we have some of the most information we've ever had in a case in this one. There was a Freedom of Information Act thing that just has every document, every police report. It's a lot to go over. So we really stuffed it in here. It's going to be a wild story before we get to that very quickly.
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Starting point is 00:02:45 You also are gonna want Patreon. Oh yes. For sure, you're gonna wanna listen to Crime in Sports, our other show which we're doing an evil Knievel series on right now, don't have to like sports for that. You can listen to your stupid opinions, but if you want more, you can get Patreon. Patreon.com slash Crime in Sports is where you get
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Starting point is 00:03:45 At the end of the regular show, Jimmy will mispronounce your name horribly while dying to get it correct. That's our credo. That's it. So that said, I think it's time, speaking of our credo, here's our credo. I think it's time everybody to sit back, clear the lungs. Let's all arms to the sky. Let's all arms to the sky. Let's all shout
Starting point is 00:04:17 Let's do it everybody. Okay. Let's go on a trip. Shall we we are going to Utah this week We're going this place is really some kind of place. Yeah is Lucin, Utah. L-U-C-I-N. And if people have never heard of it, it's because it's a ghost town at this point. Especially after what happened here, it's even more of a ghost town now. So yeah, we'll talk a little bit about it. Not a lot of stats, but a little bit of some weird shit here. It's in Northwest Utah, out over there, about three hours to Salt Lake City about three and a half hours to Pleasant Grove Utah or Utah our last Utah episode which was Dr. Serial Killer that was a good one this is in Box Elder County
Starting point is 00:04:55 Box Elder Box Elder two separate words I don't know elder has something to do with Mormonism I'm sure because they call each other elder I don't know. So a little bit of history this town was founded in the late 1800s originally about 10 miles north of its current location and it was only here to provide water it's a water stop for railroads to replenish their steam locomotives that's the only reason why it's here. Then in the 1903, the town moved. They moved it to its site now to serve as a stop for the Lucent Cut-Off, which was another railroad thing there. The town's population consisted mainly of employees of the Central and Southern Pacific Railroads back in the day. In 1936 the town was completely abandoned and then resettled
Starting point is 00:05:47 by a group of four retired railroad workers and their children. They decided we're gonna start a town again here. We like it. We're not gonna stop it. They came back about 37 so the next year then there was people there until 1972 and then no one lived there anymore Then in 1997 a guy named Ivo Zdarsky Who was an aviation engineer or entrepreneur and manufacturer? Of the Ivo prop which is a prop plane propeller. He invented it. He bought it and moved there He bought the airport
Starting point is 00:06:26 He bought like the whole town not the whole town but like the airport and a bunch of land basically so he did that as of 2016 except for Intermittent people stopping people we're gonna talk about in this show because they were there and all of that kind of thing and Zdarsky There really wasn't anybody there like it was just maybe five people this Zdarsky lived alone in an airplane hangar that's it that's what he did when they asked him why he moved to the desert he said quote I escaped from Czechoslovakia then I was in California and then I moved here okay in broken English I'm sure.
Starting point is 00:07:05 In check, yeah, it is too. It doesn't talk very much here. Why are you here? I escape. I escape and come. And then I'm out here. He bought 400 acres for $99,000 that included. That's why he moved here.
Starting point is 00:07:18 Yeah, that included the Lucent Airport as well. Yeah, I would too if I had a little bit of cash. No need to do anything, that's awesome. Problem was the airport was Airport as well. Yeah, I would too if I had a little bit of cash and no need to do anything, that's awesome. Problem was the airport was just a runway. It wasn't even, there wasn't even a building. There's no like Cinnabon in there or anything. None of that shit, it's just a runway, that's it. So he made a hanger, he built the hanger,
Starting point is 00:07:38 a 50 foot steel hanger, no windows, no anything like that. He just lives in a metal box in the middle of the desert. It's cold and summer's hot. Absolutely. So he says some people drop by and they're exploring because they don't know, they're like, oh, someone lives here. They don't believe it.
Starting point is 00:07:54 What is this? He says, you always run into people. And they said, well, how often is always out here? And he says, if you define seeing people by seeing a car driving by maybe once a week. So once a week he sees a car drive by and he says that's always seeing people. You always run into people, you know, as they week, there's a person as they fly by at 75 miles an hour.
Starting point is 00:08:20 I consider that a relationship. I assume society is going because I saw a car last week. It's so wild. He said that the post office won't deliver there but UPS and FedEx will deliver there so he can get shit delivered. Stamps are useless. He used to get delivery from the Schwann's food truck. Oh yeah, those truck dealers. Which makes those little frozen pizzas. Yeah. And they'd bring him prepared meals, but he canceled it because he gained too much weight, he said.
Starting point is 00:08:51 He was gaining too much weight, couldn't do it. He says he's got great internet speed out there. He said, so I'm on Amazon ordering stuff, and then UPS will bring it to me in the middle of nowhere. Wow. That's gotta be a driver's nightmare, seeing that address. Amazing. Very quickly, I have to talk about it.
Starting point is 00:09:10 They call it, there's an oasis in the desert. Because approaching there, you said you can see a clump of lush green trees about three miles to the south and southwest. And apparently, a small four inch pipe originating in the pilot mountain range to the southwest supplies water there So there was ponds. There's ponds here, too. There's the loose and pond and everything else. So yeah, there's also some Telephone booths there really that are like old old abandoned telephone
Starting point is 00:09:43 You can get land there Jimmy look at the pictures of this land Show me this oh It is nothing that one's cool. That's got a mountain in it at least you can get rest of it's just desert I've 80 80 acres for forty six thousand dollars 80 80 acres 500 bucks an acre basically oh my god 10 acres 10 grand and then here's one 640 acres 320 grand That's unbelievable. It's so cheap. There's nothing there obviously Speaking of that thing art assault lake three hours. Okay. Yeah, not commutable at all now
Starting point is 00:10:20 Things to do here well not much honestly popular stop for people that look for rocks Rock people Apparently there's an apple green chert like phosphate mineral Varisite that's in this area They look for that apple green. There's no apples. No apples the color. It's just the color of the rock. If you see that, it's not an apple. And there is a large artwork here that actually plays into our story a little bit here.
Starting point is 00:10:51 It's mentioned called the Sun Tunnels, which was created by an artist named Nancy Holt in 1976. Look at, it's just concrete tubes in the desert. Yeah. Sun Tunnels, look at this. Remember those things in school? Did they ever have those on your playground? They had those on our playground.
Starting point is 00:11:06 They were buried, half buried. It's just like a big water pipe. There was a kid that ran into one of those and fucking capped herself. She peeled the top of her fucking head off. They look like things that people would hide in from like prison dogs that are chasing them, except these are just out in the deserts.
Starting point is 00:11:24 They're not underground. Or the cheap school are just out in the deserts they're not underground school district or in the playground yeah hiding those you fuckers it is fucking wild man so that said let's talk about a murder here this is May 31st 2022 we're talking so recently it just happened 830 a.m. here. Okay, a detective is called To about a missing person reported in this area in the lucerne, Utah area So they have to drive all the way the fuck out here. There's no police station in Lucerne So police station shows I believe it's the county the box elder County sheriffs or whatever
Starting point is 00:12:03 So the box elder County search and rescue had already responded to the area and they were requesting police assistance. So this detective arrived and talked to some people and found out who was missing and what was going on here and found out that it is a 19 year old young man who's missing named Dylan Rounds. He was 19 years old and he's got a weird story that he seems like a kind of a
Starting point is 00:12:28 cool kid. Um, he's from Rigby, Idaho originally. And at this point in 2022, he's living by himself in a camp trailer where he farms grain out there. How old is he? 19, 19, 19. It's his dream to have a farm in the middle of nowhere where he makes grain or grows grain. Tough kid. Yeah, that's what I mean.
Starting point is 00:12:52 That's an interesting dream for a, and he owns land. Wow. Like he and his father and grandfather chipped in and bought this piece of land so he could like farm it and all this type of thing. It's pretty interesting, honestly. Very interesting honestly his mother said Dylan was out building his life his lifelong dream was to have his own farm he spent the last two summers ripping out and redeveloping that ground on his own he got his water
Starting point is 00:13:17 rights he did everything and this year his grain was finally coming up he finally got a crop he got his up. It was a fully functional farm Okay, so Cranking Dylan doing great now. He's missing Not good. Yeah, I mean it seems like he could have just wandered off But you could see people for like eight miles in every direction Land if you got 688 yeah, you can see it all. So apparently the original This Is The Cop gets here, the detective, he gets filled in and he's told that Dylan spoke with his grandmother on the phone on the morning of May 28th, this
Starting point is 00:13:54 day that they were called out here, and he was told that he told his grandmother he was going to be parking his seed truck. He was on the phone and he said, Oh no, it started raining. So he had to take his truck to park it in the, in the, like the, in a shed, basically a grain shed, the worry kept his shit there. Okay. It's a, which is a couple miles away on this area. So he's got to go park it there. So, um, he said he was had to stop working and go do that on the property.
Starting point is 00:14:27 Now where the shed is where a guy is squatting by the way. There's a guy named James Brenner who squats in the shed and like squats. Oh man. He's got an interesting story. He needed to come out here because he was not doing well in regular society. Too many people, not good for him. This guy shouldn't be around many people here. So I guess then he said, I'm going to go put the truck away and then I'll call you back, is what he said. So that's on his cell phone here. But he never called back. And then nobody could get in contact with him in any way. So people came out to look for him. He wasn't there. They called the cops and this is
Starting point is 00:15:08 what happens now. So this detective was told by the police station here that that his Dylan's phone had been pinged and the last location was returned to a little over a 15 mile radius because there's not a lot of cell towers out there. Holy shit, that's a big radius. If you're in a concentrated area, there's cell towers everywhere, they can coordinate it more. But if you're out there where there's one cell tower, anywhere in this-
Starting point is 00:15:36 Services 15 miles. That's it. So they were trying to figure it out, the distance of the radius, they were like, there was no direction in which to search a 15 mile radius is huge That yeah pick a spot go 15 miles away from it and then do a circle. That's great. It's so big It's so big. It's such a big area So it's not a good if you have like three cops
Starting point is 00:15:59 It's gonna take you a month to search a 15 mile radius for sure. It's gonna take forever. So they can't really do that. So they said there was a shelter on a section of land owned by Box Elder Land and Livestock that was adjacent to this property here. I guess so. Dylan was doing all this. I guess this James Brenner was using the storage shed to sleep in, hang out in and to store stuff.
Starting point is 00:16:28 Both of them lived in off the grid trailers. I guess he had a little trailer to James Brenner, but he was also sleeping in the shed sometimes for some reason. Doesn't make any sense. So this guy doesn't make a lot of sense. James Adrian Brenner, who was 58 at the time in 2022. So way different than Dylan. I mean, totally three generations away. This guy's just starting and like, this is a 19 year old's lifestyle, not a 58 year old's lifestyle.
Starting point is 00:16:54 Yeah, to me, this is like a 41 year old's lifestyle. For me, look, I'll be 44 in a second. A 19 year old with a- I can't do this for more than two days. No, no, no, but a 19 year old running his own farm seems odd also Parts nuts, but it's weird small Small operation so bad now this Brenner is a considered a family friend of the rounds is here They know him. He's considered just a guy of the area. Yeah, one of those guys He's got a decent little criminal record on him
Starting point is 00:17:27 He's got a record that includes malicious wounding malicious malicious shooting multiple convictions of being a felon in possession of a firearm He had a shooting charge from 1986 and at another separate occasion He was charged with and accused of beating a 70 year old man with an aluminum chair. Oh He went full fucking wwf fucking extreme. He went full ECW on a 70 year old man when he was like 40 Worked him over with a chair
Starting point is 00:18:03 Worked him over with a chair. So a man born in the 60s, like he was a teenager in the 70s and he's going to have some criminal shit but that's heavy. This is a lot. I have the arrest report for his 1986 shooting arrest. Okay. And it is real fucking interesting. First of all it says no fixed address on there for him which says a lot. So even as 1986 he was a drifter.
Starting point is 00:18:26 It was that long ago, back there. It was 510-160. He is listed as, under employment, unemployed aluminum siding hanger. So. I hang aluminum siding where? Well, not right now. Currently. I've hanged aluminum siding,? Well not right now. Currently I've I've hanged aluminum siding say how's that?
Starting point is 00:18:49 And if more pops up I'll hang it. I will hang it again. So this took place at a 7-eleven store all right which makes the whole thing way trashier immediately. So it says the above defendant was arrested after he was involved in a shooting at the Costa Regional Park at approximately 1,750 hours. The defendant was sitting in his truck at campsite number four, I guess it's near a 7-Eleven, at Costco Regional Park. He was visited by Mr. Danny Weir and Mr. Michael Spro, who had stopped to discuss a new job offer for him. Hey, there we go.
Starting point is 00:19:21 Get some siding up. The defendant had been laid off earlier in the day by Mr. Weir. Okay. Now they're back. He was laid off. We've got work for you. And now we're back with work. The defendant allegedly uncovered a handgun from under a blanket in the truck and reached for the gun. As he did, Mr. Weir reached for his arm. Meaning this guy's arm. Mr. Weir stated that as he reached for the defendant's arm to push the gun away from
Starting point is 00:19:48 his chest area, the two struggled, the gun discharged and the bullet shot him in the right thigh. The bullet then passed through the right calf of Michael Spro who was standing behind him who were trying to fucking get him a new job. He then stated to Mr. Weir quote, I'm going to kill you, you motherfucker. You cost me my job. As the two struggled for the gun, the defendant attempt to cock the gun for another shot. Holy shit at this time, Mr. Weir was able to gain control of the gun and give it to Dwight Casta border. The defendant then ordered his dog, a German Shepherd, to attack
Starting point is 00:20:31 Mr. Weir, which it did. That's a good puppy. Mr. Weir received several bites to the leg and numerous scratches to his chest hair. What a bad day With the help of witnesses at the scene Mr. Weir got the defendant off of him at the time the defendant approached mr Casta border and demanded his gun back when he did not receive it. He fled in his truck a Lookout was issued by officer right to all area police agencies. The defendant was stopped at the 7-eleven. That's where that comes in This is in Maryland by Prince George's County. He was transported to Clinton Station, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Starting point is 00:21:09 The defendant was processed and interviewed. He stated that he did not remember any of the incident and that he did not own a gun. I don't know what you're talking about. Certainly, I don't have a gun. I don't know what you're talking about. The gun described as a 44 caliber Ruger six inch barrel Shot him with a fucking dirty harry gun
Starting point is 00:21:30 Holy shit wider piece. Keep this thigh. Yeah revolver black powder model. Yeah, holy shit That's a real ass gun This is fucking crazy then later on he said stated that he does keep the weapon in his truck. He admitted to it. In a box. Wow. It has like a seal on it that says peacekeeper. The peacekeeper with a picture of a mustache on it. Yeah it's fucking crazy. Big mustache. So in 2012 he served two and a half years in federal prison after a conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Starting point is 00:22:10 Another gun. And that happened all the time from the 80s on. So this guy is a fuckin' trip. He's a party. He lives in the wind on the land. He needs a weapon for nature. He does. The cops don't want him to have one.
Starting point is 00:22:24 They shouldn't know. He needs to not have a gun for any nature. He does. The cops don't want him to have one. They should know, he needs to not have a gun for any nature or anything else. So now there's a little background here. Apparently Dylan James Brenner and a guy named Don Hately, who is a next door neighbor to this whole event, he has the property next door, he works the property next door, I'm not sure of the ownership status. They were in Idaho approximately June 20th, 2020. So
Starting point is 00:22:50 two years earlier related to the purchase of several hundred pigs. Now people involved in the deal with the pigs were Brenner, Dylan, Ed Harshberger, and a guy named Larry. So Jim, Dylan, Ed, and Larry are going to go in on some pigs here. Larry explained that the pigs were part of a venture where Dylan was attempting to make a profit from the slaughter of pigs purchased from the Midwest during the COVID epidemic. So that's what he's doing. The pigs were purchased for pennies on the dollar. The deal resulted in approximately 500 pigs being delivered to Larry's property in Idaho with an eventual plan to move the pigs to loose in Utah
Starting point is 00:23:29 Now initially Larry estimated there were only to receive approximately a hundred pigs However, 500 were initial or eventually delivered. That's way more pigs. That's so many pigs I went to a place they gave me an extra pizza and they were like, well, we made an extra one You can keep it. That's fine. 400 pigs I'd be like I don't have what? Many made 400 pizzas James, please. Yeah Accidentally made 399 extra pizzas. I don't know if you want these or not So moving the pigs from Idaho to Utah required approval Required approval by a vet in Idaho Larry Larry indicated that the veterinary clinic was upset
Starting point is 00:24:06 with the number of pigs requiring approval. Yeah, they didn't want to look at them all. Yeah, I'd be upset. That's gonna take us so long. You said 100. This is way more than that. This is five times the work. Holy shit.
Starting point is 00:24:17 It was at this vet clinic where Dylan was seeking approval to move the pigs where the initial altercation between Brennan, or Brenner, Brenner James Brenner and Justin who is Justin is Dylan's father Justin shouldn't be anybody's father. No one's father should be named Justin number one. It just doesn't work It's weird that there are people named Justin that are old enough to have kids. Yeah That's just true. Somebody's gonna be grandpa Justin. We can't have that. It's just weird We're going to grandpa Justin's is a strange thing. There's a professional football player named Aiden right now,
Starting point is 00:24:48 and it drives me nuts every time they say his name. I bet, yeah. You sound like a tiny white child. Why are you in the NFL? With like a hemophiliac with all sorts of allergies. So you should be sick somewhere. Yeah, you should be like staying away from pets because they make you break out in hives
Starting point is 00:25:05 He's like one of the best players on the Lions too and every time they say his name like no just call him Deal with it So job so Dylan's father and Brenner got in an argument here Yeah at the time of this incident instead incident Justin mistakenly believed that James Brenner was harsh burger a totally different guy He had him confused. that's why they were arguing. Justin was angry with Harshberger, believing that Harshberger was responsible for Dylan having an interest in farming in the Lucerne area, which they didn't want him to do. Justin angrily confronted Brenner at the veterinary clinic and told Brenner to get off Larry's
Starting point is 00:25:39 property where the pigs were being kept. Despite Justin mistaking Brenner for Harshberger, Brenner told Justin to meet on the lane outside the property adjacent to the house of Larry's father. This was a residence where Brenner was staying while he was working with Dylan. Okay, Brenner arrived, Brenner arrived, he's like show up for a fucking throw down basically.
Starting point is 00:26:00 Yeah, yeah. So Brenner arrived at the lane with quote, his six gun on his hip and his holster. That's from a police report. An actual revolver. It's 2020 fucking 2020. COVID is going on. This isn't the why fucking dodge city. This is wandering for a fucking shootout. This is not doom stone. This is crazy. Larry believed that Brenner retrieved his gun from Larry's father's house. Justin arrived at the lane. He apparently knew it was up.
Starting point is 00:26:29 He showed up with an AR-15, so he wasn't fucking around either. This is crazy. There's like four people in the whole town, hundreds of miles. Get away from each other. What are you doing? And they're all strapped and hate each other. This is crazy. Fuck.
Starting point is 00:26:42 So Larry somehow was able to deescalate this situation so that no one shot each other. I don't know how you deescalate this situation, but he did it. So Brenner and Justin were approximately 100 feet apart and were pretty angry. Brenner was walking up the lane with his gun. Brenner was angry with Justin and told Larry that.
Starting point is 00:27:01 Brenner stated something to the effect of, I hate that son of a bitch, which Larry described Brenner as having a short temper which it sounds like While Brenner was on the lane waiting for Justin Justin went to his house got the AR-15 Larry explained that Justin can get pretty loud When angry and was either pointing his finger at Brenner or had poked Brenner in the chest prior to that's what caused the showdown He poked him chest poke so chest prior to that's what caused the showdown he poked him Chest poke so we're showing up with our guns neither pointed their gun at the other Larry believed that if either would have pointed their gun at the other someone would have gotten shot. I think so too
Starting point is 00:27:36 Brenner relied on the good nature of Dylan and Larry sir for survival during the winter Because during the winter it's harsh out there. Oh, yeah I mean yeah Larry pointed out that Dylan drove to Idaho from Lucerne in order to collect firewood from Larry so that Brenner would be able to stay warm during the winter. So Dylan's doing him favors. Yeah. Rounds also believe that it's likely that Brenner's temper played a part in the disappearance of Dylan that's what Justin said to dad and indicated that if Brenner were to provide information of the location of Dylan's body, Larry would be interested in Brenner receiving a break in any potential charge or sentence.
Starting point is 00:28:13 So they already have him. He did it and he took him somewhere and did something. Yeah, they got him assumed as the bad guy. Love winter? Then you'll fall in love with Winter in Niagara-on-the-Lake. This charming and historic town is the perfect place to lace up your skates, cozy up by the fire after a day of wine tours or beer sampling, or simply melt into a puddle with a luxurious spa day. Wander through one-of-a-kind boutiques and indulge in world-class dining where every meal is an experience to savor. Winter in Niagara-on-the-Lake is more than a season. It's magical. Come
Starting point is 00:28:45 explore Niagara-on-the-Lake now or plan your adventure at niagara-on-the-lake.com. Hey everybody, we have some exciting news that we want to share. If you want to go on an adventure with Generation Y, we'd love for you to join us. January 26 through the 30th, 2026, we'll be sailing from Miami to the Bahamas on Wondry's first ever True Crime Cruise aboard the Norwegian Joy. Aaron and I will be there to chat, hang out, dive into all things true crime. And we're thrilled to be joined by some familiar voices in the true crime podcasting world. Surti and Hannah from Red Handed, Sashi and Sarah from Scam Fluencers, and Carl Miller from Kill List.
Starting point is 00:29:25 Super excited to hang out with them too. We've got some cool activities, interactive mysteries we can solve, testing our forensic skills with a blood spatter expert, and so much more. So for some sun, fun, and just the right amount of mystery solving, come join us.
Starting point is 00:29:40 If you'd like to know more and secure your spot, visit exhibitccruise.com for presale information. Now from all we can assume here, it seemed like Dylan and James Brenner got along though, so that makes, it's interesting. So the family, Dylan's family hires a private investigator. Which. We're already there.
Starting point is 00:29:59 They did it right away, because I'm not sure, I don't think they have a lot of confidence in this police department going out in the middle of the desert and really following through on this shit Even though they do like they're yeah doesn't seem like they're doing much out there anyway, so I don't yeah Burst and how to do this. That's the thing and I read I'm telling you this like I said There was a Freedom of Information Act release of all the files in this case Yeah, so I've read I read 30 police reports,
Starting point is 00:30:25 I read all this shit, so I saw everything they were doing and they were following up on things. They had to drive out to the desert a lot. Trying their best. A fucking lot here. So this guy went on a YouTube channel to talk publicly, the private investigator, he did all of that. He reported that Rounds has been farming
Starting point is 00:30:44 in the desert town of Luce in Utah during the summer months over the past few years and You know all that sort of thing so rounds Dylan reportedly told his grandmother that he was doing the seed truck And that's how that goes so Now he was last seen on May 26 2002 people talked to him on the 28th seen on May 26 2002 people talk to him on the 28th he was last seen in a cafe in Montello Nevada which is close by on the other side of the border there where he ate before going back to Utah so they found out that that's a thing so they're gonna figure that out on May 30th now this is his mom and Dylan's mom and
Starting point is 00:31:24 Dylan's stepfather here apparently traveled out to loosen from their residence in Ohio in Idaho because Dylan hadn't been heard from. So on the way to loosen Candace is his mom and his stepdad stopped in Park Valley, Utah, where they were able to get cell service and called Don Haley, the neighbor there, and then call the box Elder County Sheriff's Office to report that Dylan was missing. During the call to Hately, or Hately, Candace asked Hately if she should call the police
Starting point is 00:31:53 to make a missing persons report, and Hately told her, yes, I think that that would be okay to do now. So, Candace and the stepfather drove from Park Valley to Lucerne and met Hately on the road into Lucerne where Hately's turn off into his property was. Hately told the mom that James Brenner was waiting for him there, waiting for them to talk to them. So Candace and the stepmom continued to the property where James Brenner lived. Hately Haley waited near his turnoff so that Haley could direct others arriving to look for Dylan as to where to go. Cause there's people showing up, looking for him.
Starting point is 00:32:32 They pull their truck into the property. Candace and the stepdad are met by James Brenner. They park by the grain truck, which was parked in the grain shed. So they parked back over there where, where he was last going. So after their arrival James Brenner mentioned that Dylan needed to learn how to use a gun. He said that he kept the gun on one side of Dylan's truck and the ammo on the other side and that Dylan would be better off learning to throw a gun as opposed to shooting it as a means of self-defense. Because he's got the gun and ammo separate.
Starting point is 00:33:06 Exactly. So he had them separate. So they said that's interesting and they reported that to the sheriff's department that he said that. He also repeatedly, James did, made mention that Brenner had been in the grain truck in order to reposition the truck because the truck had been backed in too far. He said I had to move this truck because he backed it in way too far,
Starting point is 00:33:26 like frustrated though. So he also told them that whatever happened to Dylan, Dylan likely left out of the front gate of the property because there were small dually tire tracks leaving out of the front gate. Okay. So they're searching all over the place. Within the first few days, volunteer teams
Starting point is 00:33:45 logged over 300 hours searching, covering over 3,000 miles. Wow. Yeah, they said they'd been searching around the clock every day. Detectives have already 6,000 miles. I don't know how to even do that. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:34:00 That's a lot. That's a lot. They spent over 650 man hours investigating the case. They've got canines, drones. They've been on horseback They've flew planes over this thing I mean everywhere they said the surrounding areas on the Utah and Nevada border is full of old mine shafts caves and tunnels That's what the mother said So she said a professional cave diver
Starting point is 00:34:23 Volunteered to help search some of those spaces for them. Because you got to know how to do that shit. So you can't just go fucking walking into a cave. Parents also offer a $20,000 reward as well. And they told they also said there's a number of false rumors and fake fundraisers circulating on social media. Oh, isn't that fun? Isn't that great.
Starting point is 00:34:45 So on the initial day of May 30th when they're looking around and searching, they found a pair of Georgia work boots. That's the brand that belonged to Dylan. And they're on the property behind the grain shed where the truck was backed in. The boots were being described as located directly south, directly west of James Brenner's trailer,
Starting point is 00:35:08 and they looked like they were just thrown into the brush. Like they weren't lined up next to each other, sitting there like someone took them off. Now, James Brenner claimed that Dylan must have thrown them away out there in the trash pile. So Brenner asked the police officer if he had found any blood on the boots, which the cop was like, pardon? What? That's a weird question. You didn't find any blood
Starting point is 00:35:32 on those boots, did you? What now? Thought you didn't even know they were there. What's up with that? One of the boots appeared to have a dark spot on them consistent with some type of blood. And speaking with the sergeant that was there, Brenner detailed to him that on the 28th day of May, when he arrived home, he noticed Dylan had parked his grain truck in the shed, and James said that he went to the shed where he had pens set up for his chickens and horse, and that he was mad that Dylan had knocked over
Starting point is 00:36:01 all the pens in parking his grain truck. It's hard backing trucks in, you know? Anytime anybody's missing and somebody goes, I was mad at that guy. I was mad at him. By the way, did he have blood on his shoes? He just choked some. Yeah, how about that?
Starting point is 00:36:15 I got bracelets for you you might like. So it's real interesting here. They said the original meeting place was at the location where Dylan parks his grain truck. The land on the location is being occupied by James Brenner They made contact with Brenner and talked to him about this shit now his original statement He spoke with multiple individuals Brenner did and had been making the statement that he knew that someone had driven up and taken Dylan He's been telling everybody
Starting point is 00:36:41 And that Dylan wasn't just simply missing he was taken telling everybody and that Dylan wasn't just simply missing he was taken he was kidnapped kidnapped so Brenner said he believed that this is what happened because his gate was open and Dylan never leaves Brenner's gate open Brenner also stated that when he noticed the gate he saw there were tracks at the gate and also he identified the tracks that were there in a way that they appeared to stop and that's where Dylan was taken. He figured right here He did he detected it all up. Yeah I've already found the the Dooley tracks it
Starting point is 00:37:13 So he left I just fucking Jerry or bucked the shit out of this thing. It's good We're done out of here guys. This is my land take off. Yep The cop said as he spoke with Brenner the cop learned that he what he was reporting to everyone was simply Speculation and he had no actual knowledge of Dylan being taken. Is it you're just this is just your like theory Your amateur detective guess and he was like, well, yeah, they were like, okay, so that's useless. Great. Thanks but just cuz Just as I'm not wearing a badge. Don't mean it didn't happen. I Guess not. No But but just cuz just cuz I'm not wearing a badge don't mean it didn't happen I guess not no
Starting point is 00:37:48 So the boots that they found turned out to be a big deal because the mother Said those are the only pair of boots he has Dylan Yeah, and a farmer's not getting rid of his boots now He said his mom said at that point it should have been treated as foul play. You just don't see someone's boots in the desert that's missing. Yeah, we knew the first day we got out there when we saw Dylan's boots. What happened to him? That's what the mother says. He's the new already mother said that his boots are there. He's gone. This is he's dead. He's dead. Yeah. that he just died with his boots off. That's all So they follow the trail here. They go to the
Starting point is 00:38:35 They go to Montello, which is the town over the Nevada state line where he was last seen and They said they went to the cowboy bar is what it's called big surprise there Fuck yeah Well, I guess you can eat there too. And they spoke with two Montello citizens to see if they knew anything about Dylan. They asked the bar owner if she had seen Dylan recently. The bar owner said that Dylan had not been in for about a week, so they spoke with the bar patrons and they were told that Dylan was staying out in Lucerne,
Starting point is 00:38:58 which they already knew, and that there were locals out looking for him as well. They're like, oh there's people here out looking for him. So they asked the bar owner who Dylan spends time with and she replied that he spends time with her son and that her son was out there looking for Dylan right now. Now the daughter of the bar owner said
Starting point is 00:39:17 that she heard Dylan had a confrontation with a man named Chase Venstra. Okay, now Chase Venstra is a local drifter with a long criminal record and he's a mess basically So this the daughter said she was worried about this confrontation she said that if Dylan walked back from where he left his grain truck and This chase Vestra got a hold of them something bad could have happened in that time in that space between those two places she explained that another individual in montello had his face smashed in by the butt of a gun and his
Starting point is 00:39:57 whole camper shell was destroyed and the people at the bar said that chase that lives out in a motor home out on Church Street, and that's where quote, all the drug users live. Chase is a bad guy. Yeah, he's not a good cat in this town anyway, he's not considered one. So this young lady went on to reply that she'd heard it said that Chase was out there
Starting point is 00:40:21 in a ghillie suit? Yeah. What's that? It's one of those like a camouflage suit oh okay like there's like a combat suit some kind of okay worse it's like yeah it's got I mean Schwarzenegger would have worn it and fucking predator yeah I don't know you've done that several watch different movie yeah but I would like to see Charlie Sheen fight the Predator though. That would be great that I'll watch Fucking Willem Dafoe going after the Predator that would be fun Predator starring Tom Berenger. That's good stuff
Starting point is 00:40:58 It's a it's a it's a swamp suit essentially. It's like trying to Keep yourself hidden camoflaut. Okay Well, she said he's out there in one of these suits and would attempt suicide by law enforcement if they came for him Oh, he might be just hiding amongst the yeah, just ready to throw down Ready to start a firefight with somebody Yeah So it was then stated that dylan was driving down the road and chase had stopped and asked dylan for water Chase then asked dylan if he knew kurt which is another guy we'll talk about, and they
Starting point is 00:41:27 got into an altercation somehow. Everybody fights over nothing in this town. There's two people around. There's nobody and they're all mad at each other. Two people in five square miles and they want to fight. Like wouldn't you just want to talk to somebody? You'd be so lonely. Wow.
Starting point is 00:41:40 Jesus Christ. So they got into an altercation and Chase said Kurt was an asshole to which Dylan said he wasn't Dylan said no, he's not he's a good guy. Yeah throw down boy So then they spoke with a more bar patrons and didn't receive any new information about Dylan and chase It was stated at the bar that Dylan was a good kid and didn't do drugs They were told that chase does Doug do drugs quite often and outside of multiple rumors and second to third hand information they found nothing further. So they drove back to Lucin to talk to some other people here.
Starting point is 00:42:17 They talked to a guy named Kevin Bibbins and they talked to him about half hour. He said his property was burned down at one point this place is Great. Yeah, this is the craziest place ever dude. There's a lot of fire. This is wild Wow and detailed the time when he was assaulted by Brenner as well James Brenner When the talk turned to Dylan Kevin didn't have any information about what may have happened to him But he did say that Brenner is kind of a nut and attacked him one time to Dylan, Kevin didn't have any information about what may have happened to him, but he did say that Brenner is kind of a nut and attacked him one time. So then he went out to the bar, this cop went out to the property where Brenner was and
Starting point is 00:42:53 where Dylan parked the grain truck. The cop searched inside of the drink grain truck to see if maybe Dylan's phone or wallet may have been left inside. And the cop said he was informed that Dylan's family had already gone through the truck, but he said he searched it again and didn't find anything except a phone charging cord. So there's about that. Now, this is when the cops find out
Starting point is 00:43:14 that the family's not only put up a $20,000 reward, it also had an old picture of Chase Venstra and stated that they were offering a $5,000 reward for information on locating Chase. What they- Stock this guy for five grand. Yeah. That's, he's not even like a technically a suspect yet.
Starting point is 00:43:36 Like this is- He's not missing nor a suspect. What the fuck? Can you do that? Fucking wild, man. That is crazy shit. So then they talk about that they they found there's a guy I swear to God his name is Joe Glasscock. Perfect. He's the wine cup ranch manager Joey Glasscock.
Starting point is 00:43:56 Wine. Wine cup ranch. It's just called wine cup. But the word wine is in glass. It's just too much. wine cup. But the word wine is in glass. It's just too much. So he's talked about an incident with Chase Venstra. He said about a week ago he was driving on the highway toward the wine cup ranch. We saw Chase lying on the side of the highway dressed in camouflage in a ghillie suit, in a ghillie suit. Joe said he recognized chase from prior employment. So he stopped to check on him. According to Joe, chase started to approach the vehicle while carrying a rifle. You're not good camouflage. I can see you. I saw, hey buddy what's going on? While I was driving I saw you. And he's stopping to go are you okay and this guy's approaching him with a rifle. Jesus. So according to Joe, he said that the
Starting point is 00:44:41 glasscocks that he was concerned enough for his safety that he had a gun out on his vehicle seat, but Chase didn't continue all the way to the vehicle. Joe said that after his interaction with Chase, Chase walked east on the railroad tracks where Joe believed that he would come across Dylan. According to that's when Dylan ran into him, Chase was barefoot and needed water and his phone charged. And that's when Dylan let him charge his phone and gave him water So there's a thing that happens there
Starting point is 00:45:09 According to Joe chase appeared to be under the influence of some type of narcotic based on his odd behavior and mannerisms He said that he would that he saw him He said after the pickup left chase got up and I could see he was wearing camouflage Clothing and a tan military style backpack. He was carrying a tan assault rifle with a scope He crossed the highway and started walking toward lucerne I asked him what he was doing and he said quote just trying to stay out of trouble I said with an assault rifle. Yeah, and he said it's just a pea shooter and that was the last he saw of him Okay. All right so more on Chase. Later on that day they talked to Candace, Dylan's mom and
Starting point is 00:45:50 Dylan said or Dylan's mom said that Dylan had told her he was driving on Tacoma Road when Chase ran out of the bushes bloody and high on drugs. According to Candace, Chase did not have any shoes on and wanted a ride from Dylan. Dylan didn't feel comfortable giving him a ride due to his erratic behavior, so Dylan reportedly left Chase with water and contacted Chase's father to inform him about Chase so he could pick him up. So that's another incident he's had with him. So that's interesting. Now, very, very interesting. Now, they talk a little bit about Dylan.
Starting point is 00:46:27 They said he had purchased his own land, and they're talking about all this. They talked about, they talked to the parents more about Chase to see if maybe there was some other stuff with Chase that happened. You know what I mean? What, did he threaten your son? Did your son say anything about that? And all that shit. So after they interview the family family they went back to the property that the grain truck was parked on at that time they had another sergeant there they took a bunch of pictures and
Starting point is 00:46:55 Brenner was there the entire time and Walked around with the cops while they tried to separate from him while he was they said they couldn't get away from him Where are you going guys? He wouldn't leave them the fuck alone He wanted to see exactly what they were doing, which is odd when you add that with is there any blood on that boot? Yeah, and I've already found the truck those truck tracks. Yeah, this is weird. So June 3rd 2022 they think chase is on the run here They tried to cops are trying trying to interview Chase but they were unsuccessful getting in contact with him. They couldn't find him but they
Starting point is 00:47:29 they were left a voicemail. They were advised though that by friends that Chase had been making posts on Facebook about Dylan's disappearance saying that he wasn't involved in any way. Which is super weird when you're posting on Facebook that you weren't involved. He posted that we would have not been in contact with him, but at one point he said he wasn't even out there at the time and that he already had spoken to Candace about it and was cleared by her and the private investigator. Oh, if you're cleared by the mom, tell the cops that, but the FBI is involved in this
Starting point is 00:48:02 and shit like this. There's a 19 year old missing So it's pretty fucking interesting. Um, so they said the deputy said that he was uh, Deputies told the detective that he was chase's neighbor growing up and that chase had been sending him text messages about dylan Chase told this deputy that he had no involvement in the disappearance and he wasn't even out there after the 25th of may At one point he stated that he did talk to a private disappearance and he wasn't even out there after the 25th of May. At one point he stated that he did talk to a private investigator and was cleared
Starting point is 00:48:28 of any involvement, you know, and he said that the Box Elder County Sheriff's Office just wants to arrest him and leave him in jail while they continue the investigation. So that's why he's hiding. He also said everything that anybody said about him was total bullshit, quote unquote. So then they found out though that Chase had a $75,000
Starting point is 00:48:51 arrest warrant out of Montana for a domestic incident. So they got in contact with other sheriffs to try to find him and all that kind of thing. They finally get Chase in there. Good. They get him here. And he said the last time he talked to Dylan was when he drove him to the Tacoma Crossroads.
Starting point is 00:49:12 So they talked to him. He said that, I don't know anything about it. That's just all he did. He said he gave the exactly where he was. I mean, everything. He said on the 28th of May at six o'clock, he was at Little Caesar's Pizza. Then he bought beer and went home. Like, oh that is a rough night. That's a rough gastrointestinal night. Pizza and Little Caesar's. Or Little Caesar's and beer.
Starting point is 00:49:32 Little Caesar's and beer. Oh boy. I can't imagine it's any higher grade beer than Little Caesar's kind of beer. No shit man. In the 1980s a rose swept the country. Hey Mike, I really like this white Zinfandel. Well good, good. Now put it down, I'm gonna try another one.
Starting point is 00:49:49 White Zin became America's top-selling wine. But most don't know that this sweet drink has a sour history. What began in 1986 with counterfeit bottles. A big fraud, a multi-million dollar fraud. Sent investigators chasing one of the most powerful families in the business. The Lachartes. But the closer the feds got to them, the more dangerous things became.
Starting point is 00:50:12 It's a story of deceit. At the time I was paranoid. Threats. You touch my kids, I will kill you. And murder. With a.22 caliber bullet to the head. What started with a scheme to mislabel wine spilled into a blood soaked battle for succession. Welcome to Blood Vines.
Starting point is 00:50:32 You can binge listen to Blood Vines exclusively and ad free on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts, or Spotify. In the 1980s, a rose swept the country. Hey Mike, I really like this white Zinfandel. Well good, good. Now put it down. I'm gonna try another one. White Zin became America's top-selling wine. But most don't know that this sweet drink has a sour history. What began in 1986 with counterfeit bottles... A big fraud. A multi-million dollar fraud.
Starting point is 00:51:02 Sent investigators chasing one of the most powerful families in the business. The Lachartes. But the closer the feds got to them, the more dangerous things became. It's a story of deceit. At the time I was paranoid. Threats. You touch my kids, I will kill you. And murder.
Starting point is 00:51:20 With a.22 caliber bullet to the head. What started with a scheme to mislabel wine spilled into a blood soaked battle for succession. Welcome to Blood Vines. You can binge listen to Blood Vines exclusively and ad free on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts or Spotify. Have you ever gotten a message out of the blue? Maybe you ignore them, or maybe you end up in conversation. Maybe they tell you about an amazing offer.
Starting point is 00:51:52 I can really show you how to make some money. And maybe that gets you into a lot of trouble. But this isn't a story about people like you, the people receiving these messages. This is a story about the people behind the messages, on the other end of the line, thousands of them, working in a micro city built for scammers. From Wondery, the makers of Dr. Death and Kill List, comes Scam Factory, a new series about survival
Starting point is 00:52:24 at the expense of others. Follow Scam Factory, a new series about survival at the expense of others. Follow Scam Factory on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Scam Factory early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. So Chase said some more information about things that were occurring in the desert here. He said that Dylan and Kurt Wadsworth might be in a relationship with one another. Kurt is the bar owner's kid, I believe. Said that he thought they might be in a relationship with one another and he described that he
Starting point is 00:52:59 has seen Kurt dress up in dresses. Okay. He told the cops that he believes that Kurt could be attempting to quote, set him up, meaning me setting me up chase. He also said that when he was out in that area, he had his boys SKS rifle shotgun and pistol stated that the pistol was stolen and he informed the cops that he thinks Kurt's place would be a good place to look for Dylan and that he hopes Kurt hasn't hurt Dylan
Starting point is 00:53:29 Wow interesting They're in a homosexual relationship, and I'm hoping that Kurt didn't hurt. Yeah, that's what he's that's what he's claiming No one else is saying this by the way. That's a wild accusation. It's a lot. Yeah It's a that's a mean all we've heard are crazy rumors and innuendos and yeah, you know, this is small-town gossip That's all this is nothing's checking out. Yeah. Nope. So they interview Brenner again. They keep talking to him they talked to him on the seventh they talked to him June 7th and then June 11th and They serve a search warrant on his trailer during that search They found ball ammunition ignition caps caps, black powder, speed
Starting point is 00:54:06 loads, all related to muzzle loading, which were photographed in the trailer. They didn't seize them at the time, but they're going to go back and he's going to get arrested for weapons charges again, because he's not allowed to have that. June 8th, 2022, there's a tip that comes in here. They spoke with an individual who remained anonymous and they said that, okay, Dylan Rounds and Kurt Wadsworth lived inside the Saddle Sore bar together, which sounds like a, that sounds like a gay bar. I know it's not, but that sounds like your butthole sore because you've been getting it pounded all night. That's what that sounds like. That's the whole point of it. Yeah. That's what Saddle Sores are.
Starting point is 00:54:43 If you were in a city and you saw the Saddlesaur bar you'd go that's a gay bar. Yeah for sure. Absolutely. So this guy stated that Wadsworth and potentially Dylan were running around with loaded guns and wondered if there was a potentially an accident. It was reported that multiple multiple individuals had been running around Montello, Nevada area with loaded guns trying to catch people committing thefts By some crazy Price and we pried some YouTube bullshit where they're trying to yeah
Starting point is 00:55:12 They were previously referred to being vigilantes, but I was unable to actually obtain information confirming that this was actually transpiring This is the cop talking this is from his report in the Montello, Nevada cop talking. This is from his report. In the Montello, Nevada relation to Dylan rounds, the vast majority of these statements were third person and could not be verified or confirmed at all. Um, the, uh, this person also stated that the Wadsworth family that's in Montello, Nevada was Barbara, Troy, Kurt, and Scott. And he said they ran a lot of things in town, including the saddle sore and cowboy bars.
Starting point is 00:55:46 They also said that Troy Wadsworth had been seen with multiple scratches on his forearm and he had stated he crashed a three wheeler. But this guy said I went and looked at his three wheeler and it didn't have any scratches on it. So, you know, those things will throw you. That's a machine. And he said that it happened yesterday, but his scratches were already scabbed over so he didn't believe him So and then this guy's there
Starting point is 00:56:11 Whoever this is this anonymous person said that Kurt has a backhoe that was out and loosen and explained that Kurt knows the mines And other areas that could be used to hide a body So they're trying to put this on on big time. So anyway, Brenner's arrested for all the weapons violations here. Yeah. They also go out to Dylan's property. They talked to Dylan's grandfather, Larry, and he told the cops that Brenner and Don Hatley had gone into town grocery shopping and that they recently spoke with Don Hattley And they were almost on their way back to Lucent. So they're waiting to arrest Brenner here so they're gonna do that they get Brenner in cuffs and
Starting point is 00:56:57 This cop approached Don Hattley and inquired if the gate access to Brenner's trailer was secured or not Don said it was open but he could go and close it. Don't leave his gate open, which is a nice gesture by the cops. So the cop asked Don about Brenner's horse on the property that he needed to keep in the fenced area. Don said that he does have a horse and stated that he needed Brenner's keys. Brenner said that Don would secure and lock the gate. I told him that Don was about to get the keys.
Starting point is 00:57:22 Brenner started to get upset and saying that he doesn't want anyone in there. I don't want anyone in there, which is weird. Don said if he didn't want to give him the keys that's fine and asked if his trailer is locked I'll lock it for you. Brenner said that it was locked and he asked Don to close the gate and get the cooler that has meat in it from earlier when they got groceries. Brenner angrily said he doesn't want anyone in there. He was irate and said that people go in and out of there and they don't close the gate and he has to go and look for his horse and it gets out of the gate and he says that he
Starting point is 00:57:56 has to go up to the mountains to find his horse which is bullshit. It's enough with the horse. Yeah, so this is fucking amazing. So Don said that Brenner had been living on his own property in the Nevada side of the state line before his trailer burned down, and that's why he went to live on Dylan's property. Don continued to explain that one day Brenner looked out
Starting point is 00:58:17 his window and there were two people stealing a winch off his truck. He explained that Brenner hollered at them, but they just flipped him off. I'd expect. Fuck you, but they just flipped him off. I'd expect... Ah, fuck you, it's our winch now. I'd expect some desert trailer hermit to come out bucking shots, wouldn't you? Yeah, I'm not taking any... especially a winch, that probably saves his life in some situations.
Starting point is 00:58:38 Yeah, not only that, just if I see that, I expect the guy on the old Mountain Dew can to come out. Like a long beard and a hat Fire and a fucking shotgun in the air and talking about my property Tennessee Valley Authority Don't fuck with a man's winch no At this point according to Don Brenner had a black powdered pistol and shot at the individuals Which will happen Don did state that he does think that Dylan went and parked the grain truck on the property that Brenner was living on without calling Brenner to come and open the gate for him. So, okay, now Brenner's statement,
Starting point is 00:59:16 he said that Don Hattley, they're talking about what happened the day that he was gone, that Dylan disappeared. He said at approximately 1300 to 1400 hours, he left the farm where the trailer's located. He said that Don Hattley was cooking ribs and they were gonna watch Yellowstone. This is it. Wow. I'm gonna go watch some Cosner, is what I'm gonna do.
Starting point is 00:59:37 So. Living life on the range, watching shows about life on the range. Watching shows about living, going these people are full of shit. Are they doing it just to call out how full of shit they are? That ain't right right there. That ain't how you hook up a horse trailer.
Starting point is 00:59:52 Like TV's a break from reality so you don't have to think about day to day shit. They're watching shows about their day to day shit. All I do is watch police interrogations and shit so I guess it's the same thing. But like Yellowstone is about conference. Everybody's mad. It makes sense why they're all mad. Yeah, they get it.
Starting point is 01:00:12 Apparently that's... When you move out to the middle of nowhere, you just want to kill all your neighbors apparently. Fuck. So Brenner stated that before he went to Don's residence, he went to Lucent Pond to gather wood and water because it's on the way to Don's. Brenner said that he arrived home about 2100 hours and when he came over the hill he saw Dylan's grain truck. He told the cops that Dylan was the kind of kid who does whatever the hell he wants and doesn't tell you anything. Brenner said that Dylan backed the grain truck in the shed and moved
Starting point is 01:00:43 Brenner's stuff out of the way. Brenner also said that Dylan had broken some of his property. So according to Brenner, he didn't think anything of it until Don called him the next day and asked if he'd seen Dylan. Brenner stated that he was looking around outside. He found what he stated were two tracks of 10-wheelers going one in and one out. Brenner stated that he didn't use the front gate there and that he noticed Dylan had unhooked the wires to the gate because it was locked and he wanted access. Brenner further said that Dylan or somebody had wired the gate back
Starting point is 01:01:13 up and he felt that Dylan had left the grain truck and exited the property. So as he continued, he named Chase Venstra and explained how Chase had been a problem in both Montello and Lucin He said that he knew who quote who quote over there uses methamphetamine And he continued explaining that the different items and places he felt chase had stolen from both him and other victims in the area He said that Brenner said he saw a black truck on Chase's property that he knew was responsible for blowing up his trailer So he's this guy says that Chase blew up his trailer. Okay, he relayed frustrations that the Elko County Sheriff's Department won't go and investigate the incidents. Wow, they said they let him speak without too much interruption, even though he was trying to move the conversation
Starting point is 01:02:01 away from Dylan's disappearance. So but that's what he wants to talk about. Basically, he said that Dylan drinks beer. And one time around the 4th of July, Dylan arrived back to loosen from Twin Falls, Idaho, and had the entire back of his truck loaded with beer. He stated that Dylan stored the beer in one of the trailers he had on his farm property. He also said that Dylan borrowed money from him to purchase that trailer, borrowed money from a desert squatter. Right.
Starting point is 01:02:28 Brenner also said that Dylan was in the bar in Montello bragging about how much money he had. Right, Brenner continued to make allegations and name individuals that he stated were into drugs and stealing things. He also made allegations about crimes he stated he knew as a fact, but ultimately was being told this information. He wasn't present to any of these described.
Starting point is 01:02:49 He just described every bit of gossip of every crime that he's heard about in the last five years to these people. So Brenner told us he believes that Dylan was involved in a strong arm robbery and he believes it was Chase Venstra and Robert Avila's and Brenner reported that he believes Dylan wouldn't give them money and it escalated Chase sounds pretty pretty dangerous He does when asked about the bar Brenner stated that he did not think that Kurt or Troy Wadsworth would have anything to do with this incident He explained that Kurt was too good to Dylan and allowed him to sleep in the bar when Dylan had had too much alcohol and couldn't
Starting point is 01:03:24 Drive home. That's what this doesn't live there with him. He sleeps in the bar when he's too drunk. They let him fucking put a cot on a table in the fucking back. Yeah. Why does he care if Dylan is the kind of kid that just does whatever he wants? Doesn't he own this shit? Yeah, it's his land. So Brenner told the cops that Dylan had a shotgun he would keep in the backseat of his truck and they found that in Rigby, Idaho with his family. Brenner told the cops that Dillon had a shotgun he would keep in the back seat of his truck and they found that in Rigby, Idaho with his family. Brenner stated that Dillon also had a handgun that he had already found.
Starting point is 01:03:49 Brenner commented that Dillon would often keep the handgun in his truck's console but did not keep it loaded all the time. Remember, he'd be better off throwing it. Brenner said he told Dillon that he either needs to learn how to use the pistol or put it somewhere because it would end up getting him killed. And then he commented that it was a little late for that, referring to the pistol, and said that he was telling Dylan's dad
Starting point is 01:04:11 just in that as well. He just had him killed off already. So he went back to stating he believes Chase and the drug users were the ones responsible for the disappearance. He went off about Kevin Bibbins saying that he would be the only one going around out and loose in a Montello carrying a gun.
Starting point is 01:04:32 This is a mess. So they explained to him that Dylan's boots were out where they were located there and they had to be taken out there by someone. Brenner talked about Dylan telling his grandmother or somebody on the phone and he said that Chase didn't have boots remember So he probably did well then what he would have probably warned them then not left him in a fucking field So they said that I told this guy said I told Brenner that it was odd that there didn't appear to be any vehicle tracks Out to the location of the boots and he explained that someone had to have taken the boots out there as it's too far for the
Starting point is 01:05:03 Boots to just be thrown out there by someone. They then asked him, is there any reason that your DNA would be found on these boots? Oh, that's a good question. Brenner said that if he picked them up, if he picked them up, there might be some fingerprints on him and that his fingerprints are on everything out there. Everything in the vast desert, his fingerprints. I touch ever. That's the thing about me and six year olds, I touch everything.
Starting point is 01:05:28 We hang out all the time. My fingerprints are on none of your shoes. None of them, and you have multiple pairs. This is this guy's only pair of shoes, they're always on his feet. This guy's, was he going down checking his toe to see if he's growing out of them? I give him a lot of foot massages through his shoes.
Starting point is 01:05:43 Do that all the time. So Brenner stated that he did pick up a boot out there and threw it. Before he said he doesn't know how they got out there. Now he goes, oh yeah, I did pick it up and throw it. Yeah, that's how that happened. So they're like, interesting. He told us that he never saw the boots we recovered and didn't know if it was one of those boots, but he's touched some of Dylan's something.
Starting point is 01:06:03 He described that he was walking out to catch his horse on a path and came across a boot that he threw out of the way. That might have been the same boot. So they search his area, Brenner's area here, and now they have some phone activity. So they have phone activity between him and Brennan basically.
Starting point is 01:06:23 And the way it ends up happening is their phones line up perfectly at some point to where all of their movements are together. Together. And then Dylan's phone doesn't have anymore movements and Brenner's goes about its day. Keeps moving. Keeps moving.
Starting point is 01:06:40 So they said that Dylan's phone appeared to move around the property until 1101 hours where it goes stationary on the property for three hours and 36 minutes. So 1101 AM it goes stationary, which he's on a property doing things. It wouldn't be stationary. Then the phone moves again at 1437, where it travels from the barn to loosen pond member. That's the same exact time Brenner said he was at loosen pond. and by the way his phone is also at Lucent pond at this time. The route that Dylan's phone takes is on the road that Brenner refers to as the back way and Brenner has stated on multiple occasions he doesn't use the little pigeon mountain road to go to the main entrance,
Starting point is 01:07:17 he uses the back way. The phone arrives at the pond at 1452 hours and is that's the last movement of the phone. The final timestamp on his phone is 1453 55. Okay. Also they, so they analyzed all of Brenner's everything mirrors everything until the pond. And then Brenner goes on with his day. So they went, huh, that, that pretty much says it all. We just watched. Yeah. We just watched what happened so they find it in the water in the pond they find his phone the phone is in the water yeah they find the phone the polygraph now they bring him in they tell him he's
Starting point is 01:07:54 gonna do a polygraph Brenner he does it they tell him you didn't do well on that at all you did very poorly so they end up there. He's in there anyway for the for the guns So after the polygraph they interviewed him again and told him they asked him if there's anything other than Dylan's boots and inside Dylan's truck That could have his DNA on it. He told investigators that Dylan's trailer is another item that would have DNA on it He also included the tractor and they said have you ever ever asked to handle his cell phone? And he said, no, absolutely not. So they find out that he did obviously. So that's a problem. June 20th, 2022, there's a neighbor here, Donald Hatley. They talked to him a little bit more and they talk about that Brenner. Okay. They said on June 7th, Brenner brought three black powder guns to his house
Starting point is 01:08:47 and asked him to quote, safe keep them. Hang on to these. Hang on, like Godfather 2 when he passes him the thing. Hang on to this for me through the window. So when the, just in case you didn't realize, I watched Godfather 2 recently, because I made two references in an hour. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:09:03 It's the better one, right? They're both great, but I like it better, yeah. When the neighbor asked why here, Brenner said that he needed to do this for his own safety and that the last time he had trouble with the law, they took everything from him and he didn't want his things to be taken again. So he brought a.22 caliber rifle and some shit like that. He explained that the rifle had been left on the trailer on the property where Brenner had been living prior
Starting point is 01:09:29 to Brenner living there by a person who owed Brenner money. So that's what that goes on here. So yeah, so Donald Hatley talks about a little bit more about Dylan and he said that Brenner had potential to fly off the handle and get extremely violent when upset. He talked about several incidents when that happened there. So they they keep talking to this Donald Hatley because they think that he might have some info as a neighbor but all he has he has a lot of like innuendo and all that. So he said that he liked Dylan and that he wanted to help because he believed in villains, villain villains, Dylan's vision, not villains, dishing to start a farm in Lucerne.
Starting point is 01:10:14 And he felt like a father type to Dylan and he wanted to help him out. So there's that now. This guy said he knew Brenner since he lived in Montello and he'd seen Brenner two to three times a week since Brenner has been in Lucerne and he said if Brenner did kill Dylan he didn't know where Brenner would hide a body. He said that he did do some, Dylan did some exploring, he and Dylan did some exploring together at the Williams place or Hatley described being north between Brenner's place and Dylan's place on the other side of the mountain he did say that if Brenner did kill Dylan he would not
Starting point is 01:10:48 probably find the body easily out there. So anyway June 25th they get more tips to police from complete about completely different people. A guy said that they had a friend near area 51. They said that a female said the guy was named Justin Hayward, but goes by the rap music name Lil Eric So she's blaming Lil Eric on this. That's what's going on here. Lil Eric killed him Oh my god, so When they get the phone out of that's a terrible neck, so when they get the phone out of, that's a terrible rap name, when they get the phone out of the pond, that's when everything breaks open. Because the opportunity and the phones being together make Brenner look very guilty.
Starting point is 01:11:36 Right, yeah. Unless little Eric left a note in this phone. Little Eric did this, bitch. Left his calling card. I'm not afraid of calling Eric. No, no little Eric, it's a bad rap name. So while they're searching the phone, they actually recover his phone, recover data from his phone,
Starting point is 01:11:57 despite it being in a pond. Oh shit, it didn't ruin it. Nope. There was media located that clearly shows that the phone was in a trailer and was identified as Brenner's trail. There's a picture of, this is fucked up. Um, the timeframe is consistent with Dylan first arriving on the property in the
Starting point is 01:12:13 morning of May 28th. The media recording was originally moving at a high speed then was converted to a lower speed recording by the FBI. Now in the video, the stair railing can be seen as well as the window and the door of Brenner's place. Brenner can be seen in the video wiping off a revolver consistent with his black powder revolver and a red substance consistent with blood appears on his left elbow, wrist and hand.
Starting point is 01:12:43 How the fuck did that happen? I don't know. I don't know if he did it on purpose. Did it on accident maybe? But Brenner is seen wearing a camouflage t-shirt and at multiple points in the recording it appears he's standing over the phone. They end up going to his house and finding that
Starting point is 01:12:58 t-shirt with Dylan's blood stains on it. Oh shit. Not good. He got himself caught. Not fucking good at all. Yeah. Very, very bad. They also found a bunch of other stuff with Dylan's blood on it. Um, they have Brenner's touch DNA on the boots. Yeah. It's so recent. There's so much technology. It's so, so technologically fast. And then the shirt is the big one though.
Starting point is 01:13:21 They find literally find the fucking shirt he was wearing when he did it. The video comes right when Dylan went missing. It is not good at all here. They also find a hat as well, a John Deere hat that Dylan's mother said is a rare special edition John Deere hat that he purchased and worn. And it was confirmed that that was what he was wearing
Starting point is 01:13:43 and James was wearing the hat When they arrested him he was wearing Tillen's hat Dylan's hat he took the hat fucked up So they they're still looking for his body though. They haven't found his body They look around they find a bag of bones in the desert and they find out that they're not human bones They thought maybe that was it they find a clump, Justin the dad found a clump of skin and hair. Turns out not his. Oh my God! What is happening out here?
Starting point is 01:14:12 Oh no, I'm telling you this place is wild. So they charge Brenner with murder anyway, obviously. Then the parents start sending Brenner emails begging for the body. Yeah. Grandpa. Let us bury him. parents start sending Brenner emails begging for the body? Yeah. Grandpa. Let us bury him. Yeah, grandpa sent one that said, Jim, this is Larry.
Starting point is 01:14:30 On May 30th you said Dylan should learn how to use a gun. A gun can't do you any good if all you know how to do is throw it at someone. Did Dylan throw his gun at you on May 28th? What did he do to make you so mad? I would really like to hear it from you. I have some questions I hope you can answer. My phone number is, and he gives it it out and said or you can text me There is money on this account for either one. In other words, if you call me, I'll give you money
Starting point is 01:14:51 I'll pay you to tell me what the fuck happened. So anyway, he decides to make a plea bargain Really? Yep. He did mitts it. He said I did it. I killed him fuck it He does it the prosecutors are working with the parents of Dylan to come out with different options and sentencing outcomes to finalize a plea deal here. So in part of this, he's required to tell all about the case including the location of the body, that's part of it. So he leads police to the body, it is way out in the middle
Starting point is 01:15:21 of the desert in Lucerne, just in the middle of the desert, under a pile of fucking shit, and he's skeletonized by now. It's- Ah, Jesus. This happens about a year and a half later, so he's basically a skeleton. Just last year.
Starting point is 01:15:36 Yeah, it's a skid, 2023 is when they found the body, so this took this long. They finally found him, he's been, gunshot wounds is what did it. They think they shot him with a 22 rifle I believe here Yeah, private investigators. So Dylan's mom said that's it just mad It was that that he was just mad because he told Brenner told the cops that he was mad that Dylan put his truck in
Starting point is 01:15:59 The shed that day. That's why he killed him Annoyed by the truck in the shed. It's his property, man. No, but he knocked his stuff over. So the mom said, that's it, just mad. It was absolutely shameful that that's what it was over. And then probably that's probably all we'll ever get out of him. There's no legal arrangement that can make him tell us exactly what happened that morning. Oh my God.
Starting point is 01:16:22 And he said that we're definitely, he said we've been waiting for it, it's a giant elephant out of the room, it's a relief in that sense, the mom said. Sentencing comes around, the defense and the prosecution agreed to recommend a minimum of three and maximum of 30 years in prison at sentencing. The judge requested that Brenner stand and face the gallery
Starting point is 01:16:44 which was filled with villains friends and family and he refused. What? He said nope not gonna do it. So the judge said I am going to recommend to the parole board that they keep you as long as they legally can. You sir may fuck off one to fifteen years in prison for each of the three counts he pleaded guilty and he's been given credit for like a year and change time served so
Starting point is 01:17:10 it's three year minimum that's what he's got they'll run consecutive recommend they hang on to him for 15 years for 45 because consecutive so that's the most he can possibly get is 45 so that's that's a lot. The mother said it shouldn't have been an option It should be 25 to life But the justice system forced us into this type of plea since then they've set up a not a nonprofit to honor Dylan's memory and to Get resources for families who are searching for missing loved ones, which is very cool. So fucked. It's so fucked Yeah, that's Dylan's legacy is what it's called. Poor little guy. That is fucked up man this is all fucked up he went out there he just just wanted to grow some grain.
Starting point is 01:17:52 He just wanted to grow grain he wanted to be fucking just to feed people. He wanted to be an actual farmer. Jesus Christ. It's hard so there's poor Dylan the most information we've ever had on a case in this. Yeah. Everybody's interviews it was so much to sift through. So get through the end real quick here. Definitely, if you like that, tell everyone you know. Give us five stars on whatever app you're listening to. Definitely head over to ShutUpAndGiveMeMurder.com. Tickets not only for Virtual Live Show.
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