Body of Brian Dunnan may have been found, submerged in river in his own vehicle

The body of Brian Dunnan, accused of killing Johnny Beckham last June, may have been found, submerged in the Colorado River in his own missing vehicle.

Beckham died by fatal gunshot wound on Wednesday, June 30th, 2021 at the age of 33, at his home on Dreamy Lane in the Lakeside 5 subdivision north of Parker. Dunnan, whose family vacation home was on the same street as Beckham’s, was quickly identified as a person of interest in the death.

He was believed initially to have left town, but it was known Dunnan was driving a black Range Rover. The La Paz County Sheriff’s Department put out a ‘Wanted’ poster featuring Dunnan, who was in his late 50s. Multiple law enforcement agencies expended various resources looking for Dunnan, including by helicopter, but the case went cold.

Last week, a vehicle was discovered submerged in the river near BlueWater Resort & Casino on the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation. CRIT called FBI agents, who are now heading the investigation until confirmation of the human remains found behind the wheel, expected this week after an autopsy is finished. If it turns out to be Dunnan, the case will be turned back over to detectives with the La Paz County Sheriff’s Department, who have already positively identified the vehicle as Dunnan’s.

“It will take a little while due to decomposition resulting in obtaining possible dental records or DNA records,” Detective Johnson told Parker Live.

If it turns out to be Dunnan, the mystery of how he had seemingly evaded law enforcement for 10 months, despite active searches in Arizona and California by multiple agencies, will be answered. What is less clear are the circumstances in which Dunnan may have killed Beckham, leaving an open question remaining at the heart of a tragic story.

Dunnan was wanted for second degree homicide with ‘extreme indifference’, which is defined in the law as circumstances in which “the person recklessly engages in conduct that creates a grave risk of death and thereby causes the death of another person” without premeditation.

The Sheriff’s Department has never released the 911 call or made any statements about their theories of the case.