James Brenner, left, murdered Dylan Rounds, right, and hid the body, authorities say. (Screenshot: East Idaho News; image of Rounds: Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office)
Deputies in Box Elder County, Utah, announced Tuesday that they recovered the body of a murdered young farmer almost two years after he was reported missing. The mother of the victim said that the killer, James Brenner, 60, led authorities to the slain Dylan Rounds, 19, as part of a plea agreement, according to East Idaho News.
Authorities did not elaborate much on the recovery in their Facebook statement. They say a state agency must make positive identification of the body.
“No additional information can be released at this time so as not to compromise the ongoing legal proceedings,” deputies wrote on Tuesday.
Rounds, an Idaho native, had moved to Lucin, Utah, after purchasing cheap land to get started on his dream of becoming a farmer.
He last spoke to his grandmother on May 28, 2022, but after no one heard from him the next day, his family drove from Idaho to his property in Lucin to check on him, according to his parents, who were quoted in an East Idaho News story at the time.
He was gone. There was no activity on his phone or bank account, they said.
What they did find, however, were his boots. The footwear was yards away from his grain truck in the opposite direction of his RV camper. It had a spot of blood in it. His mother, Candice Cooley, called this “bizarre” because her son was always particular about the kinds of boots he wore from a young age.
“At that point, it should have been treated as foul play,” she told NewsNation. “You just don’t see someone’s boots in the desert that’s missing.”
She also said that his key fob was missing.
Lucin is in the western part of Utah, near the border with Nevada.
At the time, Cooley voiced frustration with the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office, saying officials there provided spotty support to the family in the early days of the search.
“When Box Elder County came out, they came out Monday, May 30,” she said, later saying investigators left after dark. “And they did a good job. Don’t get me wrong, especially volunteers. They did a good job. But by the next day, when they come out and the sheriffs and everybody came back out, it was around 2, 3 in the afternoon — they called it. They literally left our family out in the desert to figure out what happened.
Authorities charged Brenner in March 2023 with aggravated murder and abuse or desecration of a human body. He has been described as a squatter living on property near Rounds’ trailer.
Deputies said Tuesday that skeletal remains believed to be Rounds were recovered in the remote western Box Elder County area of Lucin.
“The FBI assisted the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office by processing the area for evidence and recovering the remains,” they wrote. “The remains are in the possession of the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner for confirmation of identity.”
It was near the state line with Nevada, Cooley told East Idaho News.
“We thank everyone for their support and love,” she reportedly said. “We are grateful we now have Dylan’s body and can bring him home as we continue our fight for justice.”
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
