Deputies say evidence pointing to likely homicide in case of Dylan Rounds

BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah — As the investigation into the whereabouts of Dylan Rounds continues, the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office says its investigation is leading them in one direction.

While there is little additional information about what happened to the 19-year-old, Chief Deputy with the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office Cade Palmer told KSL the investigation is leading authorities in one direction.

“As the investigation proceeds, evidence continues to support that a homicide likely occurred,” Palmer wrote in an email. 

Palmer says the Box Elder Sheriff’s Office recently requested a review of the case. The Department of Public Safety, the Weber County Sheriff’s Office and the Weber County Attorney’s Office all reviewed the case. 

Palmer said in his email that all three agencies “established credibility in the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office investigation with substantial and pertinent evidence.”

Rounds was last seen four months ago in Lucin, Utah, a small town near the Utah-Nevada border on Saturday, May 28.

When search teams could not find Dylan Rounds after he went missing in May., Palmer said investigators quickly shifted their focus. 

No official suspects have been named, though James Brenner’s name popped up recently when he was arrested on charges of illegally owning a firearm and was, according to court documents, “squatting” in a trailer near where Rounds was living.

Brenner hasn’t been named as a suspect in this case, nor has anyone else.

Palmer said authorities can’t say anything more at this time but that “locating Dylan Rounds, protecting the integrity of the investigation and our ability to impose criminal responsibility upon anyone involved in his disappearance are our utmost priorities.”

Additionally, Palmer said only updates that won’t compromise the investigation will be released when it is available to do so.

Dylan Rounds is described as being 5-foot-10-inches tall and 160 pounds.

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