Found Deceased UT - Dylan Rounds, 19, Lucin, Box Elder Co, May 2022 #2 *Arrest*

[Seattle1]

James Brenner, Dylan Rounds Suspect: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

James Brenner is a Utah man who has been named as a suspect in the disappearance of Dylan Rounds

heavy.com

8/12/22

[..]

Brenner has a criminal history.

On May 21, 2012, James Brenner “was sentenced to 33 months in prison for a conviction of felon in possession of a firearm. Brenner also has additional felony convictions on his criminal history,” the affidavit says.

Daily Beast reports that Brenner’s criminal history includes “malicious wounding, malicious shooting” and multiple charges of felon in possession of a firearm.

[..]

According to East Idaho News, more details came out at Brenner’s detention hearing on the federal gun charge, with prosecutors labeling him dangerous.

That site reports that he has an “outstanding warrant from Box Elder County where he allegedly beat up a man using a lawn chair. And he also served time for attempted murder.”

“Oh he has a lengthy history of violence,” said deputy U.S. attorney Carlos Esqueda at that hearing, according to East Idaho News. “He had a shoot-out before. He has a history of shooting at people and despite that, he’s a convicted felon. He continues to carry firearms.”

Brenner’s attorney countered that the attempted murder charge was thirty years ago and dropped to “malicious shooting.” She said “he had two gun violations over the past 30 years,” East Idaho News reported.

Brenner was denied bail.

 

[kccorona]

Elko County property searched in Utah missing man case​

ELKO – Law enforcement from two states searched the Nevada property of a man who has been named as a suspect in the disappearance of a 19-year-old Utah man nearly

elkodaily.com

Also from above article that is worth noting:
“It’s on James Brenner’s property,” Cooley said. “So it was property that he had. It was a shack that he lived in and I knew about this property. Dylan told me about his shack burning down.”

This quote seems to indicate the shack burned down BEFORE Dylan disappeared. I initially was concerned that this occurred afterward and potential evidence was destroyed, but sounds like this burning had already occurred and was just now being investigated by the authorities based on a tip provided by private citizens investigating Dylan's disappearance.

 

[carbuff]

It still seems kind of odd.

 

[Seattle1]

Also from above article that is worth noting:
“It’s on James Brenner’s property,” Cooley said. “So it was property that he had. It was a shack that he lived in and I knew about this property. Dylan told me about his shack burning down.”

This quote seems to indicate the shack burned down BEFORE Dylan disappeared. I initially was concerned that this occurred afterward and potential evidence was destroyed, but sounds like this burning had already occurred and was just now being investigated by the authorities based on a tip provided by private citizens investigating Dylan's disappearance.

I agree that JB lost his shack prior to DR disappearing but I disagree that JB's shack burning was a recent occurrence-- especially given that JB was said to have "come with the farm" that DR purchased more than two years ago.

(We also know that JB was living in CV's old place when the property was owned by another and that JB had been the keeper of the gate key since at least that time). MOO

 

[kccorona]

I agree that JB lost his shack prior to DR disappearing but I disagree that JB's shack burning was a recent occurrence-- especially given that JB was said to have "come with the farm" that DR purchased more than two years ago.

(We also know that JB was living in CV's old place when the property was owned by another and that JB had been the keeper of the gate key since at least that time). MOO

Sorry I didn’t type clearly there, that’s what I meant- the fact that Dylan’s mom said she knew about the shack burning down because Dylan told her was what indicated to me that the burning had happened prior to Dylan’s disappearance.

 

[indicolite22]

This is about the misinformation (or confidential information) about this case that found its way to NamUS:

Missing in Utah: Dylan Rounds’ mother calling for transparency

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – A vehicle fob mysteriously was placed back into Dylan Rounds’ camper after he disappeared. The fob belonged to Rounds. His pickup truck was parked outside. It ha…

www.abc4.com

She (CC) said she received an email from Box Elder stating it was mistakenly placed on the page and has since been removed.
..
“Box Elder is still lead,” she said. “But they don’t communicate with us. They don’t say anything. We have no clue.”

 

[MassGuy]

This is about the misinformation (or confidential information) about this case that found its way to NamUS:

Missing in Utah: Dylan Rounds’ mother calling for transparency

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – A vehicle fob mysteriously was placed back into Dylan Rounds’ camper after he disappeared. The fob belonged to Rounds. His pickup truck was parked outside. It ha…

www.abc4.com

She (CC) said she received an email from Box Elder stating it was mistakenly placed on the page and has since been removed.
..
“Box Elder is still lead,” she said. “But they don’t communicate with us. They don’t say anything. We have no clue.”

I understand the family's frustration about not knowing what's going on in the investigation, but as all of us on here know, that's completely standard.

And I definitely think that wasn't misinformation, but was instead a mistaken release of evidence.

 

[Wallendo]

That seems like a strangely specific piece of information to be accidentally released.

In order for LE to have this information, they would have needed to do a thorough search and not found the key, followed by the key being found in a later search in a place where it could not have been missed the first time. If true, it suggests that a person involved with the disappearance remains local.

I can't, however, come up with a good reason that someone would take the risk of returning the key fob instead of just making it disappear.

 

[indicolite22]

Family of missing Dylan Rounds pushing for change in lead investigators

After a criminal search came up short, the family of Dylan Rounds is demanding change in who handles their son’s case.

www.fox13now.com

Dylan’s parents are asking the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office to relinquish lead on the case and hand it over to the state or FBI.
Cooley claims the county released important clues that were meant to stay confidential. She also said she hasn’t heard from the sheriff in over two months.

 

[Lusitana]

His parents are so hostile towards Box Elder County Sheriff's Office. That's not going to help Dylan. While I understand why they are upset and anxious, this is not the right move at all.

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

I have always wished that Websleuths had a way to sort of "bulletin board" topics, as a way to keep track of them and mull thoughts in an empirical way. Such as: "All the things we know about the boots, and what they might mean". And: "All things related to the truck washing, and what they might point to", etc.

Trying to keep track of so many facts and ideas related to them without a "reference sheet", so to speak, makes it so unwieldy. Not sure how that would be done, though.

I totally agree - subheadings under the main thread would be an amazing improvement IMO, within limits. Oddly, years ago, when the internet was new and forums was a whole new global experience, that's how they were laid out. The main subject and then lots of sub sections. I guess there must be reasons why WS decided against that, maybe it would become too unwieldy?

 

[Knox]

I understand the family's frustration about not knowing what's going on in the investigation, but as all of us on here know, that's completely standard.

And I definitely think that wasn't misinformation, but was instead a mistaken release of evidence.

I get it too, but publicly calling for Box Elder Sheriff to step down from being the lead agency is a mistake. She set the stage for the relationship from the jump and it's continues to erode today. IMO, she can keep Dylan's case alive and in the media, without trashing the investigative efforts. I think she feels she can apply pressure to get the results she wants, but I understand LE's perspective on this. Many wouldn't have known about the "key piece of evidence" on Namus until she pointed it out in national media.

It's a terrible position to be in, she wants to find her son. But we've seen the benefit of good relationships with LE in many cases here, we know the drill. More flies with honey principal ...

 

[indicolite22]

Many wouldn't have known about the "key piece of evidence" on Namus until she pointed it out in national media.

SBM. Some true crime outlets pointed out the discrepancy between the NamUs entry and the information she was putting out. They were attacking her credibility, so she went to the media. This is one of those instances where the entire family is receiving hostile treatment from certain parts of the public that generate drama for personal gain. (JMO)

 

[Knox]

SBM. Some true crime outlets pointed out the discrepancy between the NamUs entry and the information she was putting out. They were attacking her credibility, so she went to the media. This is one of those instances where the entire family is receiving hostile treatment from certain parts of the public that generate drama for personal gain. (JMO)

I stand corrected, thank you.

 

[MassGuy]

I get it too, but publicly calling for Box Elder Sheriff to step down from being the lead agency is a mistake. She set the stage for the relationship from the jump and it's continues to erode today. IMO, she can keep Dylan's case alive and in the media, without trashing the investigative efforts. I think she feels she can apply pressure to get the results she wants, but I understand LE's perspective on this. Many wouldn't have known about the "key piece of evidence" on Namus until she pointed it out in national media.

It's a terrible position to be in, she wants to find her son. But we've seen the benefit of good relationships with LE in many cases here, we know the drill. More flies with honey principal ...

The thing is too, even though Box Elder is the lead agency, the FBI may be doing the majority of the legwork here (lab testing, interviews, etc).

We've already seen federal charges filed, and the FBI has far more experience and capability in a case like this.

I followed another case recently where although a sheriff's office was the lead agency, the majority of the evidence came from the FBI investigation.

I think that will be the case here.

 

[indicolite22]

DutyRon made a video about CC's latest request. The co-hosts who are retired LE believe that Utah AG could take the lead in the investigation.

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Is it possible the family and people in the community would have quickly suspected JB as the perpetrator? And possibly they feel the Sheriff could have acted far sooner? Could that explain calling for them to step down and also why the locals were notably silent in contributing info?

 

[DeDee]

As a mother, I would feel extremely uncomfortable telling an untruth to the public about my child's murder investigation when it's so easy to say "No comment" or "I can't talk about that." It seems these craters of disbelief the public may feel are created, without intention, but just the same it harms future believability.

Unless the killer confesses and reveals where Dylan's precious body was hidden, is it possible that he can be located in that vast desert? Someone ripped his lifelong dream from him forevermore and should pay with the same. mho

What do you all think it means about the key fob being used and replaced? Any ideas on why such a thing would be done? Was something vital removed from Dylan's truck?

 

[indicolite22]

The family might have seen clues on site by which they quickly suspected JB, but for some reason were insufficient for LE at the time. The family were likely unaware of JB's violent record.

IMO the returned keyfob is significant. The perp(s) could have tried to make it look like Dylan was the last to drive his truck, but initially kept the keyfob.

 

[katydid23]

I totally agree - subheadings under the main thread would be an amazing improvement IMO, within limits. Oddly, years ago, when the internet was new and forums was a whole new global experience, that's how they were laid out. The main subject and then lots of sub sections. I guess there must be reasons why WS decided against that, maybe it would become too unwieldy?

WS did try the sub-section method a few years ago but it didn't work that well.

What happened was there were a bunch of mini-threads about very specific details in a case, but that drove individuals to the mini threads instead of the main thread. And we ended up with dozens of min-threads with very few members posting in them because you cannot expand much upon the narrowly defined topics.

And if you have a thread specifically titled 'DR's boots' or 'Washing of the truck" then whenever someone mentions that subject in the main thread, they are now 'off topic' and are directed to the sub-threads.


It just seemed kind of divisive and not very efficient in terms of promoting an extensive and thorough group discussion. It kind of died on the vine, it seems.