Real Names: David Kenneth Tyll and Brian George Ognjan
Nicknames: Dave (Tyll)
Location: St. Claire Shores, Michigan
Date: November 22, 1985
Bio[]
Occupation: Machinist (Tyll); Mechanic (Ognjan)
Date of Birth: August 21, 1958 (Tyll); January 16, 1958 (Ognjan)
Height: 6'2" (Tyll); 5'10" (Ognjan)
Weight: 175 pounds
Marital Status: Married (Tyll); Dating (Ognjan)
Characteristics: Both are Caucasian males. Tyll had brown hair, green eyes, and a beard. Ognjan had sandy brown hair, brown eyes, and a mustache.
Case[]
Details: David Tyll and Brian Ognjan, both twenty-seven, had been best friends since they were in Boy Scouts together. They grew up in Detroit, Michigan. They played cards, hunted, and enjoyed the outdoors together. On November 22, 1985, they planned to go hunting near David's family cabin in White Cloud. David picked up Brian at his home in St. Claire Shores. Brian cashed a $50 check and they then left for their trip. They first planned to visit a friend in Mio, 150 miles east. However, they never arrived at the cabin or the friend's home and were never seen again. David's vehicle, a 1980 black Ford Bronco, has also never been found.
Authorities could find no reason for David and Brian to disappear voluntarily. They do not believe that David and Brian ever made it to White Cloud, however, several witnesses placed them and their Bronco at a tavern in Mio, so it is believed that something may have happened to them there.
Suspects: None known
Extra Notes:
- This case first aired as a part of a Missing Persons special alert on the October 25, 1989 episode along with those of Julie Weflen, Stefanie Stroh, Kyle Clinkscales, Carlos Alvarez, Diana Braungardt, John Simmons, Lily Mae Huff, David Thies, and Susan Cappel.
- It was also documented on Cold Case Files, Sins & Secrets, and Murder Book after its partial resolution.
- It was excluded from the FilmRise release of the Robert Stacks episodes.
Results: Unresolved. In May 2003, two brothers, fifty-two-year-old Raymond Jr. "J.R." and fifty-one-year-old Donald D. "Coco" Duvall, were arrested for David and Brian's murders. For years, they had been considered suspects in this case. In 1990, investigators learned from an informant that on the night that David and Brian vanished, they went to Linker's Lounge near Mio. They drank heavily and got into a physical altercation with another group of people that included the Raymond and Donald.
However, the police did not have enough evidence until a witness, Barbara Boudro, came forward. She reported that she and a friend (now deceased) had been at the bar on the night of David and Brian's disappearances. She had seen them, Raymond, and Donald exchange words there. She said that she and her friend later witnessed Raymond and Donald attack David and Brian and then beat them to death with an aluminum baseball bat in a field near her home. She said that they then placed the bodies in their Ford Bronco and drove away. She did not come forward until 2003 due to her fear of Raymond and Donald.
Several other witnesses reported that Raymond and Donald bragged about killing David and Brian, cutting their bodies up and feeding the remains to their pigs. These witnesses were also apparently threatened into silence. Another witness, Raymond's son's girlfriend, also came forward in 2003. She said that Raymond had bragged to her that he and Donald had killed David and Brian over a dispute about a deer. He also told her that he had put the bodies through a woodchipper and fed the remains to the pigs. He threatened to do the same to her if she left his son. Yet another witness, Donald's girlfriend at the time, said that in 1986, he confessed to killing David and Brian. He then beat her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone. She and two other witnesses also said that another Duvall brother, Rex, was driving David's Bronco a few days after his and Brian's murders.
Another Duvall brother claimed that he "didn't kill them" but helped transport their bodies. Police suspect that yet another Duvall brother, Kenny, had scrapped David's Bronco and sold it for parts. He told the police this in a taped interview but had "courtroom amnesia" while on the stand. In October 2003, Raymond and Donald went on trial for the murders. Both took the stand and denied being involved, claiming that they never met the victims. They were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Neither David nor Brian's remains have ever been found. However, as recently as 2009, police have received tips about the possible location of them. Based on Barbara's statements, investigators also believe that at least three other men were involved in the attack on them. However, no one else has been charged.
Links:
- David and Brian on the Charley Project
- David and Brian on the Doe Network
- David and Brian on Bonnie's Blog of Crime
- A year later, fate of two pals who went hunting is still a mystery - November 2, 1986
- Case of Two Missing Hunters Mystifies Relatives, Authorities - November 3, 1986
- Families cling to hope for hunters missing since 1985, find no clues - November 26, 1987
- Au Sable divers find no sign of missing hunters - November 20, 1988
- Seven years after leaving for hunting trip, two Michigan men still missing - October 25, 1992
- Hunters' kin offer reward - March 5, 1998
- Attorney General Mike Cox Announces Charges in 18-year old Missing Hunters Case - May 15, 2003
- 2 Michigan brothers are charged in hunters' disappearance 18 years ago - May 16, 2003
- Brothers charged in slayings, 18 years later - May 16, 2003
- Killings: Fear, rumors still surround case - June 19, 2003
- 2 to be tried in suspected 1985 deaths - October 20, 2003
- Witness feared for her life - October 22, 2003
- Testimony continues in two hunters' 1985 disappearance - October 24, 2003
- Stories clash about missing hunters - October 28, 2003
- Brothers deny meeting missing hunters - October 29, 2003
- Brothers convicted in deaths of hunters - October 30, 2003
- Two sentenced for murder of Detroit hunters - October 30, 2003
- Brothers sentenced to life in 1985 murders - November 14, 2003
- Brothers Sentenced in Hunters' Murders - November 14, 2003
- Hunter saga finally ends - November 14, 2003
- People of the State of Michigan vs. Raymond and Donald Duvall - May 26, 2005
- Police investigate tip in hunters' murder - September 18, 2009
- Duvall vs. Bell - January 31, 2012
- Brian and David on Find a Grave