LUCIN, Utah (ABC4) — An Idaho man has been missing for nine months, and his parents talk about the progress they believe is being made in the investigation today.

In May of 2022, Dylan Rounds, 20, from East Idaho, went missing. According to his parents, he had been living in an RV camper near the Nevada-Utah border working on farming land when he disappeared. Authorities are calling it a homicide investigation.

Eastern Idaho reporter Nate Eaton was able to interview Dylan Rounds’ parents and get updates on the case.

Rounds’ mother Candice Cooley said that while the progression on the case is not at the speed they want it to be, there is progression, and they are expecting major developments on the case soon.

“We were hoping to have them by now, but there’s been some stalls and some hiccups, and some hangups,” Cooley said. “so we’re patiently waiting to see where it goes.”

According to Rounds’ mother, one of the biggest problems they’ve had is with law enforcement.

“We have been run through the wringer with law enforcement, and every time we turn around, something that’s supposed to happen doesn’t happen,” Cooley said. “It’s just been this roller coaster of this is gonna happen in two weeks, and two months later it hasn’t happened.”

Rounds’ father, Justin Rounds, said with all the issues they’ve had with law enforcement, they try to stay realistic.

“We just try not to get our hopes up too much, because nothing ever seems like it hardly comes out of anything,” he said.

According to Rounds’ parents, the officers have new information and new evidence, and while they know some of it, they can’t disclose it because it could jeopardize the case. However, sometimes they said it’s hard to believe that the authorities really have what they say they have.

“When we’re told, ‘we have all this stuff but we can’t tell you what it is,’ […]we instantly go to, ‘do you really? Or are you just telling us that to keep us quiet?'”

According to the Rounds’ parents, James Brenner is still the leading suspect in the case, which authorities are now calling a homicide. However, they don’t believe he has even been interviewed yet.

“We understand that when prosecution builds a case, now that we do have the prosecuting attorney involved, they want it to be solid before that moves forward,” Cooley said

While authorities are calling this a homicide case, they have not located Rounds’ body. There was however Rounds’ blood found on the boots that were located on his farm.

Brenner, who worked on Rounds’ farm, is the lead suspect in the case. According to Rounds’ parents, he was one of the last people that Rounds contacted and had allegedly moved Rounds’ boots after he was probably already missing. Brenner is currently in custody over allegedly having illegal guns in his possession and the assault of a man in 2021.

According to Rounds’ parents, there was a lot of information surrounding Rounds that was on the internet, and a lot of it was false. They cleared some of that up with Eaton in their interview. They said a lot has come out about them causing harm in the investigation, but said it is false.

“We have not fought against law enforcement by any means,” Cooley said. “We have had every right to stand up and scream and demand the help that they’re supposed to give us. […]People saying we harmed the investigation, that is not the case. […] there would not have been a case had we not have screamed.”

Justin Rounds said that he just doesn’t know what to say when people ask about the case.

“It doesn’t even seem real, I’m from this area and I know a fair amount of people and everybody will ask me if I know anything new,” Justin Rounds said. “And I don’t even really know what to tell them ’cause I don’t even really know what’s going on. It just doesn’t even seem real. I’ll be sitting there some nights and just all of a sudden feel like a kick in the gut and realize what’s happening […] that he’s gone. I don’t even know how to explain it.”

His parents said the way that people can help is by donating to Dylan’s Legacy website and Facebook, which will be live in mid-March. They said this will go into getting drones to locate his body, as well as create a system to help people farm some of Rounds’ favorite plants in his legacy.