Remains believed to be Dylan Rounds have been taken to the medical examiner’s office to confirm the identity, according to reports.
The skeletal remains believed to belong to 19-year-old Dylan Rounds, who went missing in May 2022, have been found after suspect James Brenner brought authorities to the burial site in a remote area, cops said.
The remains were recovered in the remote western Box Elder County area of Lucin on Tuesday, the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office said. The FBI assisted the sheriff's office in processing the area and recovering the remains, which are now in the possession of the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner for confirmation of identity, officials said.
"Our hearts go out to the family of Dylan Rounds. We offer our sincerest condolences for the loss of their family member," the sheriff's office said in a statement. "We understand that the pain of their loss is immeasurable, and we want to express our deepest sympathies to them. It is our hope that they can find peace moving forward."
Deputies, detectives, volunteers and other county employees investigated and searched for Rounds' remains for 23 months. Their search ended when James Brenner led investigators to the location of Rounds' burial site Tuesday as part of a plea agreement, Rounds' mother Candice Cooley told the East Idaho News.
“We thank everyone for their support and love,” Cooley told East Idaho News. “We are grateful we now have Dylan’s body and can bring him home as we continue our fight for justice.”
Rounds was last heard from Memorial Day weekend nearly two years ago when he vanished following a phone call to his grandmother, authorities.
The teenager, who worked as a farmer, was allegedly murdered by his neighbor, 60-year-old Brenner, who cops said had been squatting in a trailer on the land next to Rounds’ property. Rounds lived in a small desert community near the Utah-Nevada border.
Brenner was arrested in March 2023 and charged with aggravated murder and abuse or desecration of a human body for the murder of Rounds and the disposal of his body. At the time of Brenner’s arrest, investigators said they had found a pair of Rounds' boots about five miles west of where he lived. Charging documents obtained by Fox 13 said that Rounds' blood was found on the boots, along with Brenner's DNA.
Brenner led investigators to the location of Rounds' burial site Tuesday as part of a plea agreement, Rounds' mother told the East Idaho News. Box Elder County court officials and the Box Elder County attorney's office did not respond to Inside Edition Digital's requests for comment regarding a possible plea deal.
