Miller County law enforcement has identified a man whose body was found Thursday night in a wooded rural area near Brumley.
A news release on Friday from the Miller County Sheriff’s Office said Aaron Brantley, 41, of Columbia, was reported missing Feb. 8, and preliminary results of the investigation indiciate he died of a gunshot wound.
His body was found by law enforcement at 9:27 p.m. on March 7. An autopsy is tentatively scheduled for March 11 in Columbia, according to the release.
“As a result of the investigation, three Lake area residents were taken into custody at three different locations in Miller and Camden counties. All arrests occurred without incident. They are being held at Miller County Jail pending formal charges by the Miller County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office,” the release added.
The three taken into custody were arrested in three separate locations in Miller and Camden Counties, but no names or other details of the three people arrested were included.
When he was reported missing, Brantley was reportedly driving to the Lake of the Ozarks/Osage Beach area in a silver 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe with Missouri license plate UE1P3U — the Hyundai has also been recovered.
The investigation into Brantley’s death continues by the Miller County Sheriff’s Office, Missouri Highway Patrol Division of Drug and Crime Control, Mid-Missouri Drug Taskforce, Osage Beach Police Department, ATF and Columbia Police Department.
Anyone with information regarding the investigation is encouraged to contact the Miller County Sheriff’s Department at 573-369-2341.
The email from a Miller County Sheriff’s Department detective that contained the news release noted while no other information was being released at the moment, more details would follow as the investigation progressed.