No bond for Garland 'Joey' Nelson, accused in Wisconsin brothers' disappearance

Garland Nelson

BRAYMER, Mo. — Heavy rains in recent days slowed the search for the bodies of two Wisconsin brothers who have been missing in Missouri for more than a week but law enforcement agencies are following multiple leads in the case, a sheriff said Monday.

Several law enforcement agencies have searched since July 21 after Nick Diemel, 35, and his 24-year-old brother Justin Diemel, missed their flight home after visiting northwest Missouri on a trip for the livestock business they operate in Bonduel, Wisconsin.

Authorities have called the case a "long-term death investigation" but have not indicated why they believe the brothers are dead.

Nicholas Diemel, Justin Diemel

Callaway County Sheriff Jerry Galloway said Monday the search was complicated by rains and the length of time the brothers have been missing.

"We have a lot of leads," Galloway said. "A lot of people have provided support and we are working diligently on those leads."

Earlier Monday, a man charged with tampering with a rental truck used by the Diemel brothers was denied bond.

Garland Joseph Nelson, 25, of Braymer, was charged Friday with tampering with a vehicle. Charging documents indicate Nelson abandoned the Diemel brothers' rental truck in a commuter parking lot after they visited one of his farm operations.

Nelson has been held without bond at the Caldwell County Detention Center. During his first appearance Monday, a judge denied his request for bond change and scheduled another hearing for Thursday.

Online court records do not indicate that Nelson has an attorney to speak for him.

In a probable cause statement, a Caldwell County sheriff's deputy wrote that Nicholas Diemel rented a Ford truck July 20 in northwest Missouri. Sheriff's deputies found the truck July 22 in a commuter parking lot near Holt.

GPS used to track the truck showed it leaving a Comfort Inn in Cameron, Missouri, on the morning of July 21 and arriving a short time later at an address where Nelson conducts farm operations. More than two hours later, the truck left the farm and eventually arrived at the commuter lot, where it was left with the keys in the ignition and the lights on, according to court documents.

Nelson admitted he left it there, according to the charging document.

Nelson was sentenced in 2016 to two years in prison for selling more than 600 head of cattle that he didn't own. Federal prosecutors said at the time that 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.