KINGSTON, MO (AP) — A Missouri prosecutor and sheriff will give an update Wednesday into the disappearance of two Wisconsin brothers who have been missing since July and are presumed dead.
Caldwell County Maj. Mitch Allen told the Kansas City Star that new charges will be filed against Garland Nelson, the Missouri man already charged with tampering with a vehicle rented by Justin and Nick Diemel of Shawano County, Wisconsin. Officials with the sheriff’s and prosecutor’s offices would say only that a news conference is planned at the courthouse.
Nick Diemel, 35, and Justin Diemel, 24, were reported missing July 21. They had been visiting Nelson’s farm in Braymer, Missouri, while on a trip related to their cattle business. Braymer is in northwestern Missouri, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northeast of Kansas City, Missouri.
Human remains were found on the farm but have not been publicly identified.
A message left Tuesday with Nelson’s attorney was not immediately returned. Nelson is jailed without bail.
Authorities said Nelson was charged with tampering because he drove the brothers’ rented truck from his farm to a commuter parking lot, where it was found abandoned.
Nelson was involved in a business arrangement with another farmer that included calves owned by the brothers, people involved with the deal told the Star in August.
David Foster, a Kansas dairy farmer, said he bought 131 calves from Nelson in November. Nelson was to raise the calves and the farmers would split the cost after the animals were sold. Foster said 100 of the calves belonged to the Diemel brothers.
Nelson’s mother, Tomme Feil, said the calves became ill shortly after arriving at the farm. She blamed the illnesses on bad winter and weakened immune systems. She said many died despite medication, feed and advice from veterinarians.
Feil said her son returned the remaining calves when Foster’s bank claimed them as collateral.
Foster said only 35 calves were returned to him, and that Nelson owed him more than $151,000. Feil disputed the amount. She said several people owe her son money and that he planned to pay Foster back when others repaid their debts to him.
Nelson was sentenced in 2016 to two years in prison for selling more than 600 head of cattle that did not belong to him. Nelson pleaded guilty to cattle fraud that caused more than $262,000 in losses. He was released from prison in March 2018. He also pleaded guilty in August 2015 to two misdemeanor counts of passing bad checks.
Nelson also faces charges in Kansas of endangering the food supply. Prosecutors there said Nelson didn’t have proper health papers in May when he took 35 calves from his family’s farm to a farm in Fort Scott, Kansas.
