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Arrest Warrant Out On Neighbor Of Missing Teen Farmer Dylan Rounds For Gun Charge
James Brenner was squatting in a trailer on the same property where Dylan Rounds told his grandmother he was going to go before he vanished, according to authorities.
An arrest warrant has been issued on a firearms charge for an adult neighbor of a missing Utah teenager.
The warrant against James Brenner, 59, was filed on Wednesday and alleges that he possessed a firearm while being a felon, KUTV reports. The warrant alleges that Brenner was “squatting” in a trailer, close to where Dylan Rounds, 19, lived and worked.
Rounds lived alone on his farm in Lucin — which is technically a ghost town — and was last heard from on May 28 after he spoke to his grandmother on the phone, the East Idaho News previously reported.
In his last known conversation to his grandmother, Rounds said he was about to put a grain truck in a shelter. The shelter for the grain truck was on the parcel of land where Brenner was squatting, according to the complaint.
Brenner and Rounds knew each other and were "family friends,” according to the arrest report.
The FBI searched the trailer on June 16 and allegedly found ammunition, black powder associated with muzzleloader firearms, and other related items. The FBI also interviewed Brenner’s friend who claimed that Brenner brought them black-powder firearms for them to keep not long after Rounds vanished.
"When [friend] 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'," the complaint states.
The friend is described as also a friend to Rounds and his family.
This is not the first time Brenner has faced such a charge. He was sentenced in 2012 to 33 months in prison after being convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He also has additional felony convictions in his criminal history, according to the complaint.
The FBI searched the trailer again on June 21 and allegedly found muzzleloader, ammunition, and four pounds of black powder.
Brenner has not been arrested in connection with Rounds’ disappearance.
Family members had mentioned to local outlets that Rounds told relatives“weird run-in” with a stranger on a country road just days before he vanished.
“The man was walking down the gravel road barefoot,” Katie Wells, his aunt said. “He flagged Dylan down, who was in his truck. He asked to use Dylan’s phone and was acting erratically. Dylan felt the man was dangerous and may have been high.”
Numerous searches to find the missing farmer have not turned up any known leads.
It's not clear if Brenner has an attorney. He does not appear to be in custody. The Box Elder Sheriff’s Office has not immediately responded to Oxygen.com's request for comment.
Dylan Rounds is 5’10” and weighs about 160 pounds, according to authorities. He has brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with details about Dylan’s disappearance is urged to contact the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office at 1-435-734-3800 or contact the family’s Facebook page.
