Authorities in northwest Missouri describe the search for two missing Wisconsin brothers as an “active death investigation.” Clinton County Sheriff Larry Fish briefed reporters Monday afternoon near a Braymer farm, explaining why it’s a death investigation.

“The finding of the truck and working on different leads with investigators, I can’t share any of that (with reporters) right now, at this time,” Fish says.

Sheriff Fish says investigators are actively following-up on leads in the search for brothers Nick and Justin Diemel. Fish tells reporters that investigators are searching multiple locations for the bodies. Dogs have been used to search some property.

“And we have a lot of leads that have come in, a lot of people have provided a lot of support,” says Fish. “And we are diligently working on those leads.”

25-year-old Garland Nelson of Braymer is charged with tampering with a motor vehicle and remains jailed without bond. Sheriff Fish says Nelson admits driving the Diemel’s rental truck from the farm and abandoning it in a commuter lot near Holt.

Online court records show Nelson appeared in Caldwell County Circuit Court in Kingston on Monday, to request a bond change. Nelson addressed Judge Jason Alfred Kanoy, who rejected the request. Judge Kanoy has scheduled a Thursday morning court hearing in Kingston.

Sheriff Fish says the Diemel brothers arrived at the farm last Sunday in a rental truck, as part of a business deal for cattle. Fish says investigators are trying to determine what happened during the transaction.

The sheriff also says wet weather across northwest Missouri is complicating the search.

“We had some rains over the weekend, as well. We had probably five inches of rain on Saturday, a few more inches of rain there on Sunday,” Fish says.

He says the search is long-term.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet