(Photo compilation provided by family)
Two brothers from the Seymour area who disappeared during a business trip to Missouri are now presumed to be dead.
Clinton County Sheriff Larry Fish confirmed that the search for Nick and Justin Diemel has changed from a missing persons investigation to a death investigation.
Fish says they have a suspect in custody, and they aren’t releasing any charges. He wouldn’t confirm if 25-year-old Garland “Joey” Nelson is the suspect.
A probable cause statement shows Nelson admitted to driving Nick Diemel’s rental truck, after the brothers visited Nelson’s farm in Braymer. That’s about 60 miles northeast of Kansas City.
Prosecutors are charging Nelson with a felony count of tampering with a vehicle.
The truck was found in a park-and-ride lot, about 40 miles from Braymer.
The two brothers own Diemel’s Livestock.
The probable cause statement includes a timeline:
GPS information shows the Diemel’s rented 2019 F250 Ford truck left a hotel in Cameron, Missouri at about 8:49 a.m. last Sunday. They traveled east on Highway 36. At about 9:26 a.m., the rental truck pulls into Joey Nelson’s driveway in Braymer.
At 11:44 a.m., the rental truck leaves Joey Nelson’s property.
At 12:18 p.m., the truck is recorded on a security camera at Casey’s General Store in Polo. The truck is driving south on Highway 13. Security camera video shows no passenger in the front seat.
At 12:19 p.m., the rental truck is captured on security camera of a Hy-Klas Foods. It’s going west on Highway 116. Again, video shows no passenger in the front seat of the truck.
At 12:45 p.m., the truck pulls into the commuter lot at Highway PP and I-35 in Holt. The truck was left running with the keys in the ignition and the lights on. The probable cause statement says Nelson admitted to leaving it there.
Nelson served two years in federal prison for a cattle fraud scheme. The federal justice department says the scheme resulted in the loss of $262,000 for victims.
