Dylan Rounds was 19 years old, an Idaho native who set out on his own to run a farm in Lucin, Utah. He disappeared in May 2022, just as his first crop was finally coming up. It took nearly two years to learn what happened to him.
Dylan bought his Lucin farm with his grandfather in 2019 and spent most nights living in a camper on the property while he built it into a working farm — clearing land, securing water rights, and finally getting a crop planted. On May 28, 2022, he spoke to his grandmother by phone, saying he needed to move his grain truck out of the rain. That was the last anyone heard from him. His mother, Candice Cooley, reported him missing two days later.
Investigators identified James Brenner, a neighbor who was squatting in a trailer near Dylan's property, as a suspect early in the case. Deputies found Dylan's grain truck and a pair of bloody boots on the land where Brenner was squatting, with DNA linking the boots to Dylan. Brenner had a prior criminal record, including a past shooting, and was barred for life from owning firearms. The break in the case came when investigators recovered Dylan's phone, which contained a time-lapse video showing Brenner covered in blood and cleaning a gun.
Brenner was charged with murder in March 2023. In 2024, as part of a plea deal, he led investigators to Dylan's remains in a remote part of Lucin, nearly two years after Dylan's death. Brenner pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, admitting he shot Dylan in the head, along with federal firearms charges. He is expected to spend decades in prison, with his sentences ordered to run consecutively.
"Being able to bring Dylan home and bring this prosecution to a successful conclusion is a great relief," Box Elder County Attorney Stephen Hadfield said following the resolution of the case. Candice Cooley's persistence in keeping Dylan's story in the public eye, including through national media coverage, helped keep pressure on the investigation until his case was finally solved.