INDIANAPOLIS — A 17-year-old from Indianapolis is facing a murder charge in connection to his father's presumed death.
On May 29, IMPD Missing Persons Detectives asked for the public's help in locating 35-year-old Brandon Perry, who allegedly left in his truck and was pulling a trailer with his tools May 26 in the 9500 block of Vandergriff Road, near Interstate 74 and South Post Road.
Police said Perry's trailer was found Monday, May 27 in the 7200 block of East Thompson Road, which is approximately three miles southwest of where he was last seen.
Then, on Wednesday, May 29, police found his truck in the 5100 block of South Emerson Avenue, which is approximately five miles southwest from where he was last seen.
Detectives called multiple hospitals in the Indianapolis area, as well as the Marion County Coroner's Office and checked within the jail systems of Indiana, but nobody had information on Brandon's whereabouts.
A family member told detectives that Brandon had not shown up for work, hadn't contacted any of his family or friends, and hadn't used his bank card since he was reported missing.
According to court documents, detectives found blood in several areas of Brandon's home, including his bedroom and stairs to the basement.
A cadaver dog also searched the property and found a makeshift burn pit on the side of the home, where detectives located Brandon's driver's license.
While at the home, family members and neighbors said one of the two trash cans was missing.
"It's almost unbelievable. I'm devastated that a young man would do anything like that. It just hurts me. It hurts deeply," said a neighbor, who wanted to remain anonymous.
Detectives learned the only other person living at the home when Brandon went missing was his 17-year-old son, David Perry.
According to court documents, David told family members and detectives that he saw his father pull out of the driveway in his truck between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. May 26.
Court documents say David never reported his father missing and only said anything to family members once another family member asked David if he had seen Brandon.
"I saw David running across the house, across the lawn over to his pickup truck and as well as the trailer. They were both there, and they ran back and forth two or three times. That's the last time I saw the trailer and/or the pickup," the neighbor said.
According to court documents, David told detectives that his father's handgun was missing from his truck, but detectives found the same gun in a safe in David's car.
Detectives reviewed surveillance video from where Brandon's truck was found, which showed "a skinny male, who is not Brandon, is seen walking away from the pickup truck. This male resembles David Perry in both stature and gate." The video is timestamped 6:03 a.m. on May 27.
Then, on May 31, a family member called detectives and said, "(Brandon) is in the White River."
Detectives applied for a search warrant for David's cellphone, which has a location tracking app. After reviewing that data, police arrested David for murder and transported him to the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center.
The family member told detectives that David said his "dad is in the White River and that he was in the trash can."
According to court documents, text messages sent from David's phone around 12:35 p.m. say, "Hey it popped off" and "I'll talk to you about it in person can't say over text."
Police said Brandon's body has not been recovered.