BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah, July 7, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — James Brenner, formerly considered a person of interest in connection with the disappearance of 19-year-old Dylan Rounds, has now been named a suspect in the case.
The Box Elder County Sheriff Chief Deputy Cade Palmer on Thursday released a statement on the case:
During the course of this investigation, multiple persons have been interviewed by the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, and other assisting agencies. Multiple arrests have been made for unrelated warrants and crimes that have been discovered during this process.
When Dylan Rounds was not located early on in the search effort, the investigation focused on the possibility of Dylan being the victim of a crime. The current totality of information gathered from the many interviews and searches, along with the analysis of both physical evidence and forensic data, has identified James Brenner as a suspect. Brenner is currently being held at the Weber County Jail on unrelated federal firearm charges. No criminal charges have been filed specifically regarding the Dylan Rounds case.
This investigation is not complete and remains active. Law enforcement investigators are continuing to work to locate Dylan and find answers. At this time, no further information or comment related to this criminal investigation will be released.
As we’ve stated before, if you have knowledge regarding the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Dylan Rounds, call the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office. Our 24/7 Dispatch non-emergency phone numbers are 435-723-5227, 435-734-3894 and 435-257-3131. You can also send private messages through the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Facebook page.
Brenner
Brenner, 58 and with previous felony convictions, was squatting in a trailer on property near Rounds’ farm and had contact with him, according to court documents. He was arrested last week on the firearms charge. He has a rap sheet that includes malicious wounding, malicious shooting, and multiple convictions of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
A probable cause statement filed in Brenner’s most recent arrest says he was interviewed on June 7 of this year in connection with the disappearance of Rounds. On June 11, the Sheriff’s Office requested the assistance of the FBI and Davis County Sheriff’s Office in the investigation.
On June 16, the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office (BECSO) and the FBI executed a search warrant on Brenner’s trailer. During the search, firearm accessories related to “muzzle loading” were located in the trailer, but no guns were found, the probable cause statement says.
On June 20, 2022, a friend and neighbor of Brenner, identified in court documents as D.H., was interviewed by the FBI and Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office.
“During that interview, D.H. advised that after D.R. (Dylan Rounds) went missing, and sometime after Brenner’s initial June 7, 2022, interview with BECSO, Brenner brought three black powder guns over to D.H.’s residence and asked him to ‘safekeep’ them. When D.H. asked why, Brenner stated that he needed to do this for ‘his own safety’ and that “the last time he had trouble with the law they took everything from him, and he did not want the things he had left to be taken again.
“D.H. agreed to store the muzzle loaders for him. At the time of the interview D.H. turned over the three muzzle loaders to BECSO who booked them into evidence.”
“On June 21, D.H. was interviewed again by the FBI, and said Brenner had also brought him a .22 caliber rifle around the same time he had brought over the muzzle loaders. D.H. told us that he didn’t mention the .22 rifle when interviewed before because he had been owed money by the rifle’s original owner and that he felt that he should have a claim over the .22 rifle that Brenner asked him to store, to cover the debt,” Brenner’s probable cause statement says.
Gephardt Daily will have updates on this case as additional information is released.
