Missing brothers: What we know
CALDWELL COUNTY, Mo. – Missouri authorities are continuing a death investigation of two Shawano County brothers who went missing while traveling for business earlier this week.
Their bodies had not been found as of 5 p.m. Saturday, officials said.
The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri began searching for the brothers Monday afternoon after their rental car was found abandoned in a parking lot. On Friday, officials announced they were no longer investigating the brothers’ disappearance as a missing persons case, but rather a death investigation.
Here’s what we know so far about the brothers’ disappearance.
The missing brothers
Nicholas Diemel, 34, and Justin Diemel, 24, were last heard from the morning of July 21, Nick’s wife, Lisa, told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
The brothers own Diemel’s Livestock in Bonduel and had traveled to Missouri for business in Caldwell and Clinton counties, authorities said. Lisa said the brothers regularly go to Missouri to meet with farmers who work for their company.
The brothers’ flight from Kansas City was supposed to arrive in Milwaukee around 3:15 p.m. Sunday, but they never got on the plane.
Nick and Lisa are high school sweethearts who have four children. Lisa said Justin and his girlfriend have also been together since high school.
“It’s like a living nightmare for everyone,” Lisa told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
Lisa last heard from Nick on the morning of July 21 and said the conversation was completely normal. She said they were going to a client’s farm.
The investigation
On Saturday, Clinton County Sheriff Larry Fish said he expects the investigation will be “long term,” adding, “It’s not something that’s going to be cut and dry and quick. It’s going to take time.”
Officials have not found the brothers’ bodies or what led them on Friday to change the search for the Diemel brothers from a missing persons case to a death investigation, but said a suspect, 25-year-old Garland Joseph Nelson, was charged in connection with the brothers’ disappearance.
Law enforcement in Clinton and Caldwell counties started searching for the brothers after their rental car was found abandoned in a commuter parking lot in Holt, Missouri. Police searched multiple locations in Clinton and Caldwell counties for the men, including at a property near Braymer, Missouri, according to the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office. Braymer is about 65 miles northeast of Kansas City.
According to a probable cause affidavit that the St. Joseph (Mo.) NewsPress posted online, Nelson told investigators that on Sunday, he drove the
Diemels’ rental pickup truck from his residence near Braymer to the commuter lot where authorities found it still running the next day.
GPS information from the truck’s black box shows the vehicle arrived around 9:30 a.m. July 21 at Nelson’s Catawba Road address, near Braymer, after leaving a hotel in Cameron, Missouri, around 8:50 a.m. The hotel confirmed Nicholas and Justin signed out Sunday morning, according to the affidavit.
At 11:44 a.m. July 21, the truck left Nelson’s address. At 12:18 p.m. and 12:19 July 21, the truck was recorded passing by security cameras in Polo, Missouri, and “there appears to be no passenger in the front passenger seat,” the affidavit states.
At 12:45 p.m., the truck entered the commuter lot in Holt and was “left running with the keys in the ignition and lights on.” Nelson admitted leaving it there, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit doesn’t say whether Nelson explained why he took the truck or what happened to the brothers.
Fish said on Saturday that there would be a news conference Monday afternoon.
The suspect
Nelson was charged Friday with felony vehicle tampering in connection with the Diemel brothers’ disappearance.
In 2016, Nelson was convicted in federal court of cattle fraud and sentenced to two years in prison. According to a 2016 news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Nelson scammed his victims out of more than $262,000.
Nelson received $158,000 in loans from the Farm Service Agency to buy and raise cattle, according to the justice department. He then sold at least 114 mortgaged head of cattle without notifying FSA of the sales or instructing buyers to make their checks out to him as well as the FSA. He admitted to keeping the proceeds for himself, according to the justice department.
Nelson removed identification from 646 cattle that were owned by others but placed in his care to graze. He sold those livestock for $124,000, the justice department said.
To avoid being caught, Nelson did business under the name “Joey Nelson” and also used a friend’s name. He filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on June 25, 2015, according to the justice department.
How to help
An account has been set up at Community First Credit Union for the Diemel Brothers Benefit, according to a post on the Facebook page Prayers for Nick Diemel and Justin Diemel.
Checks can be made payable to the Diemel Brothers Benefit and sent to:
Community First Credit Union
P.O Box 1487 Appleton, WI 549121487
“The family and friends of Nick and Justin would like to thank everyone for their help, donations, and prayers. It is greatly appreciated and forever in our hearts.”