00:00:02
He He was in a hurry and cuz I guess it was raining, he wanted to get this undercover.
00:00:07
>> So you weren't here when Dylan came down here. >> He's a friend of mine. >> Sure. You don't get rid of friends.
00:00:13
>> This is Jim Brener, a farmer living in the remote Utah desert. Police don't know it yet, but he's showing them the
00:00:21
exact building where a missing teenager was murdered just days earlier. 19-year-old Dylan Rounds had left his
00:00:30
family to go work on his farm. But after being spotted buying supplies at a local
00:00:35
shop, he would vanish without a trace. Strangely, no one in the small, quiet town seemed surprised. Apparently, this
00:00:45
was not uncommon. >> I told that kid, "Stay the hell out of Montello." >> That whole town just It's a crazy place.
00:00:54
Some other guy pointed a gun in my freaking face. >> As days stretched into weeks, detectives
00:01:00
chased a mounting list of suspects. Thieves, violent criminals, [music] drug dealers. Yet from the very
00:01:07
beginning, the truth was there, hidden in plain sight by someone nobody [music] suspected.
00:01:25
It all began on a quiet evening when police received calls from a concerned family member reporting their son Dylan
00:01:33
Rounds missing from his farm in Utah. They hadn't heard from him in over 2 days. And when they went to his property
00:01:39
to check, there was no sign of him anywhere. A deputy was dispatched to Dylan's farm to meet with his family.
00:01:46
But on his way there, he was stopped by a neighbor of Dylan claiming he might know what happened to him.
00:01:52
>> He's been he's been hanging out over that bar in Montello. And I could give you some names of some scumbags over
00:01:59
there, but he's been shooting his mouth off about how much money he's making. And there's one guy, Chase Vra Ventra.
00:02:06
He's over there and he can do anything he wants. He's been robbing, stealing, everything. Hill County Sheriff won't do
00:02:12
anything about it. And if you talk to his mother, she knows more about it, but he ran into Chase on the Tacoma Road the
00:02:18
other day. And Chase kind of scared him a little bit. >> What's your [music] last name again,
00:02:21
Jim? >> Brener. Jim Brener. Well, I'll let you get down there before they disturb the
00:02:25
crime scene. >> Okay, thank you. >> As the conversation ended, Jim Brener's strange remark about a crime scene left
00:02:33
the deputy curious since no crime was yet confirmed. It was an unsettling comment that would soon become a
00:02:42
disturbing reality. >> Milk something good. >> For now though, the deputy took note of
00:02:51
this information and continued towards Dylan's farm to speak with his family. >> No guns in there.
00:03:03
>> No guns in there. Like he said, he carries a He has a 40 that he puts in the door right side.
00:03:14
>> Did you just pop the back window? >> I broke it out. >> At first glance, Dylan's red Ford truck
00:03:21
appeared oddly abandoned, bearing signs of minor damage. But what concerned his father the most was that Dylan's guns
00:03:29
had mysteriously vanished from the trailer. A detail that was strange on its own. Wanting to learn more about
00:03:36
Dylan, the deputy turned to speak with his mother, she had her own troubling information to share about Dylan's
00:03:42
recent runin with a local criminal. >> What does he farm for out here? >> Himself.
00:03:47
>> What does he farm for? >> Grain or >> grain? >> Yeah. >> James stopped me when you guys weren't
00:03:54
around me was talking to me. You said that uh you knew something about a runin he had with a guy named Chase.
00:03:59
>> Yeah. on Wednesday, but they told me that's normal. So, >> I know a lot of the people that he named
00:04:05
from Montello are not good people. I only know of them from what people say. Dylan's mother confirmed her son had in
00:04:12
fact encountered Chase Venstra recently, the same person Dylan's neighbor had earlier described as a local thief and
00:04:20
criminal. Given what the deputy learned so far, it seemed like Dylan might have unknowingly placed himself in danger. At
00:04:28
just 19, he purchased 640 acres of land with his grandfather for an estimated 200 to $300,000
00:04:36
and built a reputation for his ambitious dreams of running a huge farm. But according to his neighbor, Dylan's
00:04:43
confidence may have made him a target, as he often frequented rough local bars and talked openly about his financial
00:04:50
success. After rehashing some more details with Dylan's parents, the neighbor Jim
00:04:56
Brainer and his close friend Donald Hayley arrived to help. Both men knew Dylan well. Jim was living in a trailer
00:05:03
near Dylan's farm and occasionally helped him with chores. And Donald was a longtime friend of the family and a
00:05:09
supportive mentor to Dylan's farming ambitions. But unbeknownst to everyone at the time, both men knew something
00:05:17
more about Dylan's [music] disappearance. Something they weren't ready to share yet.
00:05:22
>> I did get a ping. Okay. >> Last location was 15.4 miles from the Voltine Tower,
00:05:29
>> which puts him on this back road. >> So I was walk that hit him walking. >> Okay. That's I I really I know my son
00:05:38
and that's the shortest route to his camp. If he walked, that road ends right out here.
00:05:44
>> If he walked, he would have come this corner, cut across this field. >> But that's as close as cell phone peak.
00:05:50
Not in town. Not It's out here. >> Mhm. Off of that road, the back road into the compound.
00:05:57
>> Then we go down to where it is. >> Yeah. >> What time was that? Does it tell you?
00:06:01
>> That was at uh or 14:58. >> So right after just before 3:00. >> Right after you left. So he must have
00:06:09
pulled in right behind you. He dropped off the grain truck and I'm telling you I I bet you he took off walking.
00:06:16
>> How do you get to that road from >> I >> So we don't have to go all the way back
00:06:20
to Luc and over. >> No, >> no, I guess. Okay. >> Following this lead, they quickly headed
00:06:26
to the shed area to investigate. That's when they discovered the first troubling
00:06:30
sign of foul play. Dylan's boots were found stained with blood discarded about 100 yards south of the shed. The deputy
00:06:40
immediately secured the boots to send them off for DNA testing and called another deputy to help search the shed
00:06:46
and the surrounding property. However, they had no way of knowing that the [music] biggest clue they were looking
00:06:51
for was submerged 20 ft deep in a pond nearby. >> There's just some boots out there that
00:06:58
are they've only been out there for a day or two. You didn't see anybody else around here.
00:07:03
>> I left here about 1:30, went over to Dons, and I was there until about 9:00 at night. And when I come back, that
00:07:09
[music] truck was here. >> It's just one thing after another. [laughter] And but he's a friend of mine.
00:07:15
>> Sure. You don't get rid of friends. [music] Those two boots out there, they're brand
00:07:19
new. Like they're they've only been out there. They're they're the same color leather as your boots and they're the
00:07:25
same ones he wears. So, we're just curious [music] of why his boots would be out there. Same size he wears.
00:07:31
They've only been out there probably for a day or two. >> He might have threw them out there. I
00:07:35
maybe he did. Would he Does he know that's a dump out there? He does. He's got electronics and [ __ ]
00:07:40
in there. Maybe I don't know cuz like I say, he was here. >> He hadn't been here.
00:07:48
>> Brought the truck here. >> Yeah, that would make sense. >> Based on Jim Briner's timeline, whatever
00:07:54
happened to Dylan likely occurred between 1:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. The hours when Jim left the shed to visit
00:08:02
his friend Donald Hatley. Police quickly verified Brener's timeline with his friend Donald, who confirms that they
00:08:08
had dinner together during that time. With Dylan's exact movements still unclear, deputies requested a helicopter
00:08:15
to scout the area from above, looking for any trace of Dylan. >> So, who owns this right here? Um, that's
00:08:21
the guy that he is a partner with. This is where he dropped the grain truck off.
00:08:24
Where's this great truck? It's back to that silver building there. So, the big one. Yep. Do you want to go up higher,
00:08:29
Mike? Or you could please do the nice high orbit. You can look at everything with the camera and then we'll come back
00:08:34
down and see if we see anything with her. >> After a full sweep of the surrounding
00:08:38
area, no sign of Dylan or any indication of where he might have gone was found. In the following days, the search
00:08:50
efforts continued and Daniel's [music] family alongside local volunteers joined in. But despite their best efforts
00:08:56
combing through the area, they too came up empty. Attention soon turned to the local criminal Chase Venstra. Both
00:09:04
Dylan's mother and his neighbor Jim mentioned a recent encounter between the two, making Chase one of the last people
00:09:11
to see Dylan alive. Additionally, Chase already had a history of violent run-ins
00:09:17
with the law, including a 10-hour armed standoff with police in 2016 and was well known in the area for all the wrong
00:09:26
reasons. Luckily for police, Chase had an active warrant related to domestic violence. It was their perfect chance to
00:09:32
bring him in for questioning. But when officers arrived at the house to arrest him, Chase was nowhere to be found,
00:09:39
potentially already on the run from police. Officers quickly began searching the
00:09:45
town, asking if anyone had seen Chase recently. Locals directed them to the Montello Cowboy Bar, a place known to be
00:09:52
frequented by Chase. Following this lead, officers headed to check the bar, where they would soon learn that Dylan
00:09:58
and Chase's encounter may have been more dangerous than anyone realized. But before we get to that, it's worth
00:10:06
noting that incidents like these are not only traumatic for those directly involved, but they can often have the
00:10:12
same effects on you when you face [music] difficult situations in your own life. I [snorts] realized I simply
00:10:17
wasn't equipped to manage what I was feeling on my own and that there are professionals whose expertise is guiding
00:10:23
people like me towards feeling better. My therapist gave me one simple assignment. Write down how I felt every
00:10:29
single hour. The patterns quickly became clear what made me feel good and what made me feel bad. Reporting back kept me
00:10:36
disciplined. [music] Sharing each success made me proud and the accountability stopped me from
00:10:40
quitting. With those patterns in front of me, I could finally see what in my life had to change and how to change it.
00:10:47
Today's sponsor, BetterHelp, makes finding that kind of help simple. Fill out a brief questionnaire to be matched
00:10:53
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00:10:59
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00:11:04
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00:11:09
and get 10% off your first month of therapy. With that said, let's get back to the officers at Montello Cowboy Bar
00:11:16
where a conversation with the locals was about to reveal how Dylan's encounter with Chase may have turned violent.
00:11:23
>> We're trying to find a kid named Dylan. >> Oh, I know. We got locals out here that
00:11:29
look good, too. Oh, they went out that way cuz he was out to loose in. Uh, I was hearing Kurt say something about he
00:11:37
had a confrontation with that chase [music] kid. >> Yeah, that's who I'm looking for. Where
00:11:41
do we find him? >> Kind of worried about it because if if Dylan did walk back from where he left
00:11:48
the grain track and Chase got a hold of him and vulnerable, you know what I mean? Mhm.
00:11:54
>> Walking back, something bad could have happened because there was a bad injury
00:11:58
with a kid just out here that got his face smashed in by the butt of a gun and his all his the whole camper shell was
00:12:07
all bashed in and stuff. >> Where do we find Chase? >> Is he from here? Does he live here?
00:12:14
>> Yeah, he does. He doesn't. He He's from around here. This is where he hangs out.
00:12:19
He was staying out here and he was >> Where was he staying at? big thief in town and so everybody was after him and
00:12:26
they finally told him to get the hell out of town and stayed at >> came back just here.
00:12:31
>> The bar owner's recap only further implicated Chase Venstra suggesting that a violent confrontation between Chase
00:12:38
and Dylan was more likely than ever. But something else caught the officer's attention when one of the bar owners
00:12:45
briefly mentioned another recent incident involving Chase. Sensing there might be more to this, the officer
00:12:52
decided to pull her aside for a private conversation. At this point, police still considered Dylan's case a missing
00:12:58
person. But what the bar owner detailed next would soon shift this case to one of potential homicide.
00:13:07
>> Why was uh Chase and him having an issue? Do you know? So Kurt told me and I was overhearing part of the
00:13:13
conversation saying that Dylan was just driving down the road and Chase stopped him and said, "Hey, got some water." He
00:13:21
was like, "Hey, do you know Kurt?" Da da. And I guess they got in an altercation about that cuz um Chase,
00:13:25
he's like, "Kurt's an asshole." D. And Dylan was like, "No, he's not. You know, he's a good guy. I work for, you know,
00:13:30
do work for him." Blah, blah, blah. There's an altercation. Then he went on his way. And I believe if I'm not
00:13:35
mistaken the conversation that was the same day that he drove the grader the the grainer over to wherever he and then
00:13:43
whoever was there couldn't give him a ride back so he possibly walked. That's all I know about the conversation.
00:13:48
>> How does the kid getting hit with a butt of a gun? Does that figure into this at
00:13:54
all? >> I can get that. I think there is some because now we're talking violence. So
00:13:58
kid let his property go and stop making payments on his property because he's so
00:14:02
scared. But he woke up to the bunning of a gun into his face. They smashed his his camber.
00:14:07
>> How old was he? >> I don't know. 30s. >> 30s. >> Has a family, has kids. He's out here.
00:14:12
Bought land out here. So, everyone trying to homestead. >> He's not out here any long. Imagine.
00:14:17
>> No. He left. He left to be his property go was gone. >> With this troubling insight, it became
00:14:23
clear that Chase Venstro was fully capable of extreme violence. If he attacked someone else recently, he
00:14:30
easily could have done the same to Dylan. But what no one had realized yet was that police were looking in the
00:14:36
wrong direction the whole time, while someone far more dangerous and guilty was hiding right under their noses.
00:14:47
The next day, while the search for Chase continued, Dylan's family reached out to
00:14:52
police. They were conducting their own investigation and wanted to share new information they'd uncovered.
00:14:58
Information suggesting Chase may not have acted alone. So this is this is the family. Yes. Okay. So tell me again what
00:15:07
you're have suspicion to believe right now. >> So on 525 is when Dylan ran into chase
00:15:16
with the desert and called in the desert and called me right after. He had no shoes on. Dylan wouldn't let him take
00:15:21
his phone or give him a ride, but he did allow him to call his dad on speaker phone in Ogden, Utah.
00:15:27
>> Okay. >> Dylan allowed Chase. >> Dylan allowed Chase to. And then he gave him some coke and his and then his dad
00:15:34
called Dylan back and Dylan sent the pin from his phone to where Chase was. >> Okay.
00:15:38
>> So then we fast forward to 5:28 which was Saturday. Dylan was heard from in the morning. He talked to his grandma
00:15:45
and he was going to take the grain truck to the shed to put it in shelter cuz it
00:15:48
was raining. >> So at this point we assumed he was walking back across the desert to his
00:15:53
camper >> cuz he didn't have a ride. >> This is in Milan. >> Yeah. >> Lucen. Yeah.
00:16:00
>> Okay. >> So then 5:29 they continued to look for him. 5:30 we all got here um to Dylan's
00:16:06
last known location and loops in filed the police report. Got search and rescue out. That's the night we found Dylan
00:16:12
boots about 400 y from where his last known location was. Tossed out behind a dirt pile just out in the desert. So
00:16:21
then today we kept searching and that's when these guys got us the information. What about 3:00 today? We know that this
00:16:27
Robert guy took Chase out to the desert where Dylan is the day Dylan went missing.
00:16:33
>> The man Dylan's mother mentioned would turn out to be Robert Ales. He had an active arrest warrant and reportedly
00:16:40
gave Chase Venstra a ride to Dylan's place on the day he disappeared. The family also suspected that Chase could
00:16:46
be at Robert's house, so finding him became a priority in locating their prime suspect and hopefully Dylan
00:16:53
himself. Officers quickly moved to track down Robert Ales and their first stop was
00:17:00
Robert's residence where they came into contact with his mother. >> I'm singing in
00:17:05
>> I don't know who that would be. >> Okay. >> I'm sorry. I have no idea. >> He's supposed to be hanging out with a
00:17:13
guy named Chase >> and Robert. >> And Robert. >> Okay. I don't know. Chase might [music]
00:17:20
have an idea, but my son's been homesick and he's been in bed all day and he's been home all night. I don't know. I'm
00:17:29
just wondering. >> So, who's all in your house? Who? >> Nobody. >> Nobody's in there right now.
00:17:33
>> No, my son is in [music] his trailer. >> And where's that at? >> In the backyard.
00:17:38
>> In the backyard? >> Yeah. >> Well, we're just trying to We're just trying to find it.
00:17:42
>> No, no one came home with him. So, >> nobody came home with him? >> No. >> Okay. Is Chase here? No, I don't let
00:17:49
Chase on my property after I found him inside my home when I wasn't home. >> We were We were told that there's
00:17:54
possibly a kidnapping missing kid. >> Oh, being here. Yeah. No, you can feel free to look around.
00:18:01
>> Hostage situation like he's not being See, that's why we're here, ma'am. I'm not about a car.
00:18:05
>> Look around if you want to, but there's nothing here but my son and he's sleeping. After speaking with Robert's
00:18:12
mother, officers conducted a thorough search of the property, but found no sign of Dylan or Chase. But they soon
00:18:18
located Robert inside his trailer, and he was quickly arrested and transported [music] to the police station for
00:18:24
questioning. When detectives placed Robert in the interrogation room, they expected resistance and lies, but
00:18:31
instead, Robert didn't hold back. >> So, you said that Chase had taken guns from somebody. Did he admit to you like
00:18:39
where he got his guns? >> No, this is what I thought he got arrested for the first time. What he was
00:18:45
in jail for when I came back. I asked Chase that. I was like, "Hey man, I heard you got arrested." He's like, "No,
00:18:51
that's just all Montello gossip, blah blah blah blah blah." Right. So, I'm kind of weary after giving him a ride. I
00:18:58
tried to show um one of my mom's friends, been out there in the community for a long time. He gave me his
00:19:05
scenario. He thinks Chase did it, too. Okay. Now, I don't know the time frames because I'm not good with time. Like I
00:19:11
told you guys, I did the best I could by by contacting the store lady and asking
00:19:17
her what day I gave Chase a ride, you know, cuz I didn't even know what day I gave Chase a ride. I didn't even know
00:19:22
what day the kid came up missing. I didn't even know there was a kid missing until the Nevada
00:19:28
police came knocking on our door wanting to search our residence. You know what I
00:19:31
mean? And that's the truth. Although Robert admitted giving Chase Venstra a ride, he couldn't provide any
00:19:38
clear information on Chase's current whereabouts and maintained his innocence throughout the rest of his interview.
00:19:44
However, Robert made one thing clear. He believed Chase was involved and might have even killed Dylan.
00:19:56
The following night, something strange happened at Dylan's trailer in the Lucen Desert. It seemed someone had quietly
00:20:04
returned and tampered with items inside. An officer was quickly sent out to photograph and document the scene,
00:20:11
accompanied by Dylan's father, who'd share more details about the troubling discovery.
00:20:16
>> Okay. The shotgun is in a house in Ricky. >> Okay. That is my grandfather's that I
00:20:21
bought and he has a room up there. And that was the the 40. It's not in here. We looked in his
00:20:29
camper, didn't find it. Um, no key fob for the truck. So, when I broke the window, the
00:20:36
alarm went off. We undid the battery. No key fob. Um, we looked in his camper and all the
00:20:42
cupboards and stuff. Looked in the bathroom, nothing. My mother came here. She has real bad arthritis. My sister
00:20:48
was here. We're all out surgery. She used the bathroom. Dylan had flushed to go see it. It was really nasty. So, my
00:20:55
sister went in and cleaned it. Still no gun. Later, my son and JD came in and the gun was sitting on a sink.
00:21:03
It's outside of the bathroom, but right by the bathroom door where the toilet and the shower is the sink, but it's not
00:21:08
in the bathroom. The gun was sitting right there with the with the clip outside of it.
00:21:14
>> Okay. >> Sitting there. So, [snorts] my son and JD didn't think much of it. They grabbed
00:21:18
the gun, put it in my truck. I didn't think much of it. Although, they found the gun. I don't know. Then we started
00:21:25
realizing that it wasn't there when my sister cleaned the bathroom for my mom to use and all that and it was there.
00:21:32
>> This discovery was an alarming indication that someone was actively trying to cover up their involvement in
00:21:39
Dylan's disappearance. But his father had one more thing to share. Something about an old confrontation with someone
00:21:47
police hadn't yet fully considered in their investigation. What what was Chase's ties to out here?
00:21:54
>> I don't know about Chase. Hardly any. But the whole town knows him. But that whole town are just It's a crazy place.
00:22:03
>> They're just all like they're all muddy for one thing. >> The only people that I know of that
00:22:08
really were in contact with Dylan as I hear the chase guy. I didn't know it, but Don and Jim. Jim was the guy you the
00:22:16
place you guys know. >> Okay. >> Jim came out here and helped. Jim came to Riby where I live. I live in Rigby
00:22:22
and Idol Falls area. Dylan bought like 800 pigs or something from the Midwest when the pandemic hit.
00:22:30
Whatever the I brought him to my farm last piss and Jim was there and I unleashed on told me
00:22:38
to get the hell out of here. He called D and told me he's going to blow my head off. Dylan called me. He got all mad. So
00:22:44
when I found out he's going to blow my head off, I had to go see. and he's walking down the lane on the farm with a
00:22:50
big old pistol and my dad calmed him down and calmed me down. Then he came back this winter to my shop to work on
00:22:56
that seed truck. Fine. Everything was fine. And I realized it's Dylan's friend. I I'm not going to worry about
00:23:02
this. You know what I mean? I got to bend Tyson. >> According to Dylan's father, there were
00:23:08
no further escalations after his confrontation with Jim Briner at the time. At this point, no one had any real
00:23:15
reason to suspect Jim Brainer or Donald Hatley. After all, they'd been actively helping the family, joining search and
00:23:22
rescue efforts, and fully cooperating with police. However, the confrontation [music] described by Dylan's father was
00:23:29
serious enough for the officer to take note of it. After leaving the scene, he passed this information to detectives,
00:23:35
prompting a deeper look into Jim Brener's past. And what detectives uncovered wasn't entirely unexpected.
00:23:43
a criminal past, including convictions for aggravated assaults and multiple weapons charges, as well as a
00:23:50
pre-existing federal active warrant for being a restricted person in possession of a firearm. Brener's violent history
00:23:57
and his close proximity to [music] Dylan's farm were enough for detectives to flag him as a person of interest,
00:24:03
alongside their primary suspect, Chase Vinstra. The following day, officers moved
00:24:13
quickly to serve Brener's arrest warrant [music] and bring him in for questioning. They soon spotted him
00:24:19
casually heading back towards the grain shed with his close friend, Donald Hatley.
00:24:24
>> What could I do for you guys? >> Well, we just had a couple things we wanted to talk to you about. We're still
00:24:30
trying to figure stuff out, you know, and um just have you guys heard or seen anything these days? Anything new?
00:24:38
>> This trash over here? >> Yeah. I know names. I know people. I know they I Nobody seems to want to listen to me.
00:24:46
>> I got you. I hear >> they're the [music] ones coming over stealing [ __ ] >> Are they?
00:24:51
>> Yeah. Chase Vestra. Chase Vestra and Robert Ailas are the one that robbed uh Michael Moore up here.
00:25:00
>> But everybody keeps saying that's done. We need pulling. You need to bust kick
00:25:05
freaking rats over there open. And people are going to start talking. And that's the only way you're going to find
00:25:09
out about Dylan. >> There's a warrant for your arrest. I'm going to let you know about it right
00:25:14
now. >> From Maryland. >> So, we're going to pick you up, take you to jail with us.
00:25:19
>> Oh, god damn it. So, what I want you to do, I know before you even talk, place
00:25:23
your hands on your head for me. Interlock your fingers. Okay. >> Jim pointing fingers at Robert and Chase
00:25:30
was understandable given witness statements and allegations. But Jim's own criminal past and proximity to Dylan
00:25:37
made him equally suspicious. Detectives transported him to the police station, planning to use the unrelated warrant
00:25:44
charges as an opportunity to question him further about Dylan. Though they didn't expect much new information from
00:25:50
Jim, this routine questioning was about to lead to an unexpected breakthrough. >> The the warrant is it has been issued
00:26:00
and we're obligated by law. be found. >> I don't know if you realize this, but there's other bigger problems going on
00:26:08
over there. >> Not here to talk to you about that warrant. You just got brought in on that
00:26:13
warrant. >> Okay. >> We would like to talk to you about the other things that are going on out
00:26:17
there. >> We would respect him. I understand. I mean, I know him better than you do. I
00:26:23
work for him. >> That's why you're one of the reasons why I sit. >> Yeah. Cuz I know you know him. Dylan
00:26:29
used to go in the bar and he'd been bragging about how much money he was making. Dylan never carried money on
00:26:35
him. Bought everything with credit card. But if he did have $1 in his wallet, he
00:26:41
wouldn't give it up. And I think this is a strong armed robbery. Somebody thought
00:26:45
they see this little 5'5 kid. And I think they figured we're going to get this guy. We're we're going to rob this
00:26:52
guy. We're going to intimidate him. Dylan, don't intimidate with the strong armed robbery. Do you believe it? Chase
00:26:58
and Robert a reve? Is there any reason anyone say you did it? If I did this, I'd be one six out son of a [ __ ]
00:27:05
>> Well, there's got to be somebody that's some sick son of a [ __ ] somewhere. What
00:27:09
about Don? I've known Don for over 2 years, and Don's gone out of way to help Dylan just like I have. As expected, Jim
00:27:18
Brainer's statements remained mostly consistent, and he appeared genuinely convinced Chase Venstra and Robert of
00:27:25
Elise had something to do with Dylan's disappearance. But Briner had more details to share. Details about Dylan
00:27:32
himself and the dangerous individuals he was attracting. >> Another one, Robert Lee just did 10
00:27:40
years in prison for um strong armed robbery. Lo and behold, about 3 weeks ago, a
00:27:49
fellow from Salt Lake that bought 10 acres of land over in Montello. Two guys went into into his trailer, beat him up
00:27:56
with a pistol whipped him, robbed him, took his cell phone, and made it so his vehicle wouldn't run. He had to walk
00:28:03
into town to call the police. There's a lot of [ __ ] going on in Montel. >> Is he the one that they talk about being
00:28:09
pistol look with the gun? Is that the one? Is that somebody different? I I hate the same person.
00:28:16
>> Brener would go on to mention several other people, mostly convicted criminals
00:28:20
from the area who could have had strong motives to rob or even kill Dylan. Clearly, he wasn't exactly narrowing
00:28:28
things down for detectives, but at least he appeared fully cooperative. However,
00:28:32
in just moments, Brener would let something slip, something that would unintentionally place him right at the
00:28:39
center of the suspect pool. Dylan is a shy kid. His world revolves around tractors, farming. I mean, he had
00:28:49
a couple guns that his dad gave him and he never he had a shotgun that we found that that's up in Riby. Um, but he
00:28:57
always carried that in the back seat. And the pistol he had, they found that and he was
00:29:05
afraid to keep that loaded. He used to keep the gun in the console and keep a loaded magazine. And I told him, I said,
00:29:12
"Don't either need to learn how to use that thing or put it somewhere." I said, "That's going to get you killed." And
00:29:20
late for that, [music] but I was telling his dad that, too. >> Needless to say, Jim's choice of words
00:29:27
wasn't ideal. And this wasn't the first time his statements had raised eyebrows,
00:29:32
as he'd previously made a similar remark when Dylan first went missing, [music] speaking about him as if he was already
00:29:39
dead. Although several days had passed and the possibility of foul play was growing, detectives still found his
00:29:47
comments odd. But with the rest of Briner's interview yielding nothing new, investigators booked him into jail on
00:29:53
his unrelated firearm possession warrant, giving them time to further investigate any possible involvement.
00:30:04
Shortly after Jim Brener was taken into custody, officers finally located Chase Venstra and arrested him on his
00:30:10
unrelated warrant out of Montana. Detectives wasted no time bringing him in for questioning. But in this first
00:30:17
interview, Chase flatly denied any involvement, insisting locals were spreading false rumors to frame him.
00:30:23
With no hard evidence, investigators booked him into jail, but with a strategy in mind. They placed him in a
00:30:30
cell directly above Jim Briner, quietly hoping they would interact. And at one point, one of them might talk or slip
00:30:38
up. Pretty quickly, this tactic paid off when Chase reached out to detectives for
00:30:42
another interview, claiming he knew exactly what happened to Dylan and could solve the entire case.
00:30:49
>> I came to talk to you. Um, Kevin's called you. >> She actually didn't call me. Ross called
00:30:54
me and said that you were looking to to talk about with him talk about Brener. Was it Brener? And uh just the case
00:31:04
basically, right? >> Yeah. They put me in there. I'm the cell above Brener. >> I've got to talk to him. I've talked to
00:31:11
other cellmates. I know a lot. >> Okay. >> I know a lot. I can I can put this thing
00:31:18
to best to bed for you. Well, I mean, honestly, to be straightforward with you, I can't I can't do anything about
00:31:24
the charges. Me myself, right? They're fed. They got to be federal, right? >> No, they're they're state.
00:31:30
>> I didn't even know that there were any. >> So, I want the charges dropped. I'll
00:31:35
solve this case for you. >> All right. >> I'm not able to do it. So, I just came
00:31:39
and talk to you to see if you had something you wanted to tell me. >> I got everything to tell you, but when
00:31:44
I'm out of these chains and in my closing, I can't make that kind of deal with you. So
00:31:50
>> that's what that's >> fine if you don't want to. >> That's what I want. >> That's fine.
00:31:53
>> I want to do I just want to be left alone. >> I want like we got an ultrasound on my
00:31:58
new baby tomorrow. >> I want I want to go be there with her. This is her first baby.
00:32:04
>> I'm I'm applying for a job with the state out there. >> I hope you I'm done with this thing.
00:32:10
I've been drugged through the mud with this thing with Dylan. I know how it happened, where it happened,
00:32:14
>> when I know what what was used and where it's at. >> Okay. >> I can So, I put this whole thing to bed
00:32:22
for you guys. >> Well, and I I >> And I hate I hate to >> I wish you could, but there's not
00:32:28
anything I can offer you. >> I I hate to be that way with you, but I got to look out for me.
00:32:33
>> Unfortunately for detectives, their strategy backfired. Now, Chase wanted to bargain his freedom in exchange for
00:32:41
information he claimed to have. But investigators had little reason to trust Chase. and without an agreement to drop
00:32:48
his gun charges, the interview ended without providing any new leads. On June 28th, exactly a month since
00:33:00
Dylan went missing, police were called out after a witness reported finding something suspicious in the desert.
00:33:06
[music] A burial site with clear signs of something dead inside. >> Oh, I smelled something.
00:33:18
Somebody came and opened it. It wasn't like this. [applause] This wasn't here either.
00:33:23
>> Oh, >> okay. Go ahead and step away. >> Something dead in there. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. He killed the poor. He killed him.
00:33:35
>> Yeah. So, this is the only one that you found, huh? >> Okay. >> It wasn't like this yesterday, though.
00:33:43
Okay. >> Somebody came and open it. >> Yeah. >> So, how how did it look like? >> This was flat. So, the this was on top
00:33:59
and then and then there was another >> wood. >> Hey man. So, there is a a grave.
00:34:12
>> There appears to be maybe two dogs. Maybe two or three dogs. >> Yeah, that's not true.
00:34:24
>> Yeah, two or three dogs inside. It looks like it's been here for some time, but
00:34:31
um there the person the RP is telling me that it didn't look like this yesterday
00:34:38
that somebody had come over and >> Yeah. opened it up. >> Um opened it up for some reason.
00:34:44
I will I do have some uh some footprints around this too. >> The burial site contained [music] dead
00:34:52
dogs buried beneath. Not exactly what police were expecting, though it meant there still might be hope for Dylan.
00:35:01
Just as the investigation began to settle back into a frustrating standstill, police received a call from
00:35:07
someone they knew well, Jim Brainer's close friend, Donald Hatley. He'd been around since the early days of the
00:35:15
search, helping the family and cooperating with officers. But now, weeks into the investigation, he wanted
00:35:22
to speak with investigators, claiming he had important information to share, something he'd kept hidden ever since
00:35:29
Dylan vanished. Detectives immediately arranged to meet with Donald, where they would finally
00:35:35
uncover one of the first truly damning clues in the case. >> Oh, I'll tell you something, okay?
00:35:42
And I I really don't think it has anything to do with anything. You guys found ammunition and stuff with Gems.
00:35:49
>> Yeah. >> And he was in white powder and food in the stick. >> Yeah. >> But he figured that would be a a reason
00:35:56
to poke you or something or say whatever. So he brought us black auto right. >> Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that.
00:36:07
>> Where are those? Well, I put one behind my bed, my bedroom, and the other one's leaned up
00:36:14
in the corner next to Jaden on the couch. And >> when did he bring them? After billing.
00:36:20
>> Oh, yeah. Definitely after. >> Why? >> Basically safety. When last time, you know, they had him in
00:36:31
Hulk for over a year and when he got out, everything he had was gone. Everything. I can't ask you what's going
00:36:38
through Jyn's head at that time, but what's going through yours when he brings you his rifles and a six gun?
00:36:44
>> Honestly, it looked like he was scared that, you know, he was going to be detained for 6 months or a year and lose
00:36:51
everything he had. He said, "Well, >> he had no idea what happened to his horses last time." Well, okay. All his
00:36:57
gun, everything he owned disappeared. >> So, why do you think he's going to get detained or why does he think he's going
00:37:01
to get detained for 6 months? just because he's a felon and he could be held for so he knows he's a felon. He
00:37:08
knows he shouldn't have them and so he >> Oh, I don't know. I don't know. According to him, black power primitive
00:37:15
weapon is not considered firearm. Now, if he'd have brought me a firearm, I'd have said no.
00:37:19
>> Okay. Um, so sometime after Dylan, do you remember how long after? I mean, it's only been 3 weeks now.
00:37:28
>> It seems like forever. I wish that kid had just gone walking down the road starting to kick his butt.
00:37:33
>> I wish too, but the longer this goes, the less likely it looks. >> Yeah. >> Donald's admission couldn't have come at
00:37:40
a worse time for Jim Briner. Although Donald explained that Jim hid the guns at his place out of fear of losing them,
00:37:46
the timing was deeply suspicious. And for detectives, this was enough to place Briner at the center of suspicion
00:37:53
alongside Chase Venstra. Following this discovery, the firearms were seized and Jim Brainer picked up an additional
00:38:00
firearm possession charge, keeping him in jail as the investigation continued. But detectives still lacked concrete
00:38:07
evidence against anyone, and crucial DNA results from the bloody boots found near
00:38:11
the shed were yet to return. It seemed like the case might stall for a while. Over
00:38:23
a year would pass with detectives quietly [music] making progress, including crucial DNA results, but still
00:38:30
no sign of Dylan himself and no one held responsible. That is until December 2023 when
00:38:39
investigators got a call that would change everything. Jim Briner's cellmate, who'd spent
00:38:47
months locked up alongside him, claimed to know exactly what had happened to Dylan. Detectives quickly arranged an
00:38:56
interview, expecting another bargaining scenario similar to Chase Venstra's. But
00:39:00
what the cellmate would reveal instead was a chilling murder confession. >> You must be brought, sir. [music]
00:39:08
Thank you. So, they had said that you wanted us to come back that you had more information.
00:39:16
>> Yeah. >> Or did you have information before that you just didn't give us all of it?
00:39:19
>> No, I didn't. I didn't really have I didn't really have a whole lot of information then. Um
00:39:24
>> Okay. >> I I I got plenty of information now. Um [clears throat] I got information that
00:39:29
probably help maybe even keep him cutting the deal that he wants to cut deal with. um on his right hand.
00:39:38
Nobody has noticed he's got a bite mark. >> Has he? >> He's got a bite from Dylan rounds. Um
00:39:45
the 22 is what killed Dylan. >> Two shots. >> Yeah, the 22. The >> Did he tell you that?
00:39:52
>> Yeah. >> Just tell you that. >> Um like 2 days ago, 3 days ago. >> Go Yeah, go through that.
00:39:58
>> Um he said it was like 6:00 in the morning. He uh was in there taking a [ __ ] and
00:40:04
then he heard a diesel truck drive by the the place he was staying in. >> And uh when he got out there, he had had
00:40:12
his .45 a gun that he put in a bold over hoster. >> Mhm. >> Um and Dylan had picked it up off the
00:40:19
saw horses that he he thrown his stuff all around, moved it up so he could put the truck in the he shed. Okay.
00:40:25
>> Yeah. And Dylan was holding the 45 and and he said he got really pissed off at him and
00:40:32
started yelling at him and told him get get the [ __ ] out of there. And Dylan took the gun and fired it right beside
00:40:37
his ear. That's why he came here out of his right right right side ear. He said he grabbed he grabbed he grabbed the guy
00:40:44
was fighting for it. He said they ended up on the ground and Dylan Dylan ended up shooting himself in the leg with the
00:40:50
with the with the 45. And then um he said while they were fighting the gun got fired like two or three times. He said
00:40:58
there's a bullet hole in the side of the uh side of the building out there. You can see
00:41:03
>> he said when you guys was out there talking to him and standing in the shed or something standing up there. He said
00:41:08
he was sitting there looking at it. >> Mhm. Um, and then uh he he showed me a scar on his thumb too where he had stuck
00:41:15
his hand in in the gun that was trying to keep gun from firing it again, but he was clicking and clicking and it was and
00:41:22
it [music] his whole right hand was was damaged at one time. >> Okay. >> Um, but the bite mark is evident very
00:41:29
seeable and the body is somewhere right there close by. Um, he said he seen power marks over it where you guys have
00:41:36
been driving. Um, so we've been driving on it. >> Just give you any indication of where?
00:41:43
>> Yeah, >> there's a it's just there's a lot of country out there. >> Yeah, he said it's in the high desert.
00:41:47
>> Did he say that it was close to where he killed him? >> Yeah, it's it's close. It's close
00:41:52
somewhere there. >> Where he killed him? >> He gave him He g He gave like a 25 mile
00:41:58
circumference. >> Oh, Highways. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, he heard um Dylan drive by in
00:42:05
his truck. Mhm. >> Uh Dylan had backed the truck into the grain shed. >> No, he said he said the truck was still
00:42:11
parked out. >> So it wasn't backed in yet? >> Yeah. No, it wasn't backed in. And and
00:42:16
and that's when they had the fight. They had the fight and everyone went on in there. He said that the the the round on
00:42:23
the gun got turned. He said he heard it turning like it was a revolver. >> Yeah, it was a revolver. He said he got
00:42:29
to the chance where Dylan let quit biting him on his wrist. need to hit latched on to him and he said he got up
00:42:36
and he took off out and that's when he he got he got the 22 told him to bring his ass back his area or he was going to
00:42:42
shoot the horse. The horse was standing outside >> into the grain shed about eating the
00:42:48
horse was standing out there eating grain out of the back of the truck >> and then from what you're saying he did
00:42:53
he run back in the trailer and get Tommy too. Hey, there's a they know that they
00:42:58
they said it was behind the bags, some green bags. He said he took three shots at him and they're all head shot. He
00:43:03
said one of them graded grazed Dylan on the side of his face. He he pointed he pointed just like this to the side of
00:43:10
his face. So it could have been red. >> You know, I couldn't tell you if it was right side, but then he said two more
00:43:14
shots he shot Dylan head >> and that killed him. Yeah. >> And then what did he do?
00:43:19
>> Then then he got he said he burned all his clothes. He said after he took care
00:43:23
of everything, he burned all all the clothes. The revelations from Brainer's cellmate were chilling to say the least.
00:43:31
According to him, the argument that ended Dylan's life stemmed from Brainer being irritated with Dylan for
00:43:38
repeatedly using the shed he considered his own workspace. After killing Dylan, Briner attempted to
00:43:45
cover up his crime by loading Dylan's body onto a backhoe, burying him deep in a remote stretch of the desert nearby.
00:43:52
He then concealed the guns at Donald Hatley's place and discarded Dylan's phone in a nearby pond, unaware it had
00:43:59
recorded a damning, irrefutable proof of his crime. In addition to this confession, detectives turned back to
00:44:06
the bloody boot DNA evidence they received a few months earlier. The state lab report confirms the blood belonged
00:44:12
to Dylan, but they also found touch DNA matching Jim Briner on the boots. Using this evidence, investigators then
00:44:20
secured a search warrant for Briner's phone. And by analyzing its data, they confirmed [music] his device had
00:44:25
traveled toward a nearby pond the day Dylan vanished. [music] After searching the pond, they retrieved Dylan's phone
00:44:33
containing crucial evidence, a video clearly showing Jim Briner in a bloodstained shirt cleaning a gun. At
00:44:40
this point, there was no longer any doubt. Jim Briner killed Dylan Rounds and had been hiding in plain sight all
00:44:49
along. Despite the overwhelming evidence, Brener still sought to negotiate. Prosecutors were preparing for an
00:45:02
aggravated murder trial, but still lacked Dylan's body. So, Briner offered prosecutors a deal. He would reveal the
00:45:09
location of Dylan's body in exchange for reduced charges. In spring of 2024, [music]
00:45:15
Briner guided law enforcement to Dylan's remains in the Lucen Desert. The burial
00:45:20
site was several miles from the Greenshed property and was so well hidden that investigators had driven
00:45:26
over the spot during earlier searches without noticing it. Inside the grave, they located Dylan's [music] skeletal
00:45:32
remains. Only bones and fragments of his clothing survived.