The 17-year-old son of an Indianapolis man who went missing was caught and charged with killing his own father, putting his body in a trash can, and throwing it into a river.
One count of murder and one count of dangerous possession of a firearm were filed against David Perry on Saturday in connection with the alleged murder of 35-year-old Brandon Perry.
Brandon Perry is thought to be dead, but his body has not been found yet.
A news statement from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says that they started looking for Brandon Perry on May 29 after his sister reported him missing. They are using the Missing Persons Unit. But the investigation quickly changed from looking for missing people to what seemed like a murder case.
The police said in a press release that IMPD Homicide Detectives took over the case because of new information they had learned during the investigation. “Detectives think David Perry, Brandon Perry’s son, killed him based on video surveillance, physical evidence, and multiple interviews.”
Police said they are working with other police departments to find Brandon Perry’s body as per the court records checked by Law&Crime.
Court documents obtained by Indianapolis Fox affiliate WXIN revealed more details about the alleged murder. They said that surveillance footage, witness interviews, cellphone location records, and DNA evidence led investigators to believe that the 17-year-old son was the killer.
The report says that David Perry saw his father living for the last time on May 26. When his father went missing, David Perry did not report him missing, even though they lived together.
Authorities said they got hold of text messages David Perry sent to someone else on May 26 that accused him of killing his father.
In a message to an unknown person, David Perry is said to have said, “It popped off.”
It is said that the person to whom David Perry sent those texts talked to investigators and told them that they were about a fight David Perry had with Brandon Perry. The person also said David Perry said he wouldn’t be able to go back to the house he shared with his dad.
The sister of Brandon Perry also told police that she reported him missing after finding “a large amount of blood” on his mattress when she went to his house.
WXIN reported that the sister told police that she had talked to David Perry, who said that “his dad is in the White River and that he was in a trash can.” According to his sister, David Perry said that he put his father’s body in the trash can and dumped it in a river about an hour south of their home. He said that the lid of the trash can was “shut and wasn’t going to open.”
WRTV, an ABC affiliate in Indianapolis, said that surveillance video from May 27 showed David Perry buying a dolly, a vacuum, and seat covers from a nearby store. A few hours later, David Perry’s cellphone showed that he was in the area near the White River where his dad’s truck had been left behind.