Cop Runs Into Secret Killer Dumping Body Parts In River
45m 14s
In the remote mountain town of Chalice, Idaho, a heinous crime unfolds when 47-year-old Patrick Shelton, a man with a history of living off the grid and frequent disputes with local residents, vanishes. His adoptive mother, Helen, reports him missing, prompting police to investigate. The inquiry leads them to 70-year-old Alan Bruce, a long-time rival with whom Patrick had a violent conflict over property. Officers discover troubling evidence at Alan’s property: a damaged motorhome, missing chainsaw, bloodstains, and a discarded letter with Alan’s name. A cadaver dog detects human remains, and a photo of Patrick’s dead body in his truck is found on Alan’s phone, confirming the murder. Despite Alan’s denial and claim of self-defense, the brutality and cover-up—such as dismembering the body, burning it, and disposing of remains in the river—reveal a clear motive. Though no body is recovered and no other suspects are linked, the evidence is overwhelming. Alan is arrested, charged with first-degree murder and destruction of evidence, and later enters an Alford plea, admitting guilt in terms of prosecution’s case while maintaining innocence. He is sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 10 years before parole eligibility. The case remains one of the most disturbing crimes in the area, highlighting the dangers of unchecked personal feuds and the power of forensic investigation to uncover hidden truths.
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Who are you?
Stop right there.
Go ahead and stop right there.
This Idaho state officer is pointing his flashlight at 70-year-old Alan Bruce.
He has no idea that the man he just ran into
was in the middle of dumping human body parts in a nearby river
after murdering, dismembering, and meticulously covering up the crime scene.
Okay, so what are you doing?
We have a major problem going on down here.
We're just going to make sure he works that, guys.
All right, so you're just trying to keep an eye on stuff, then?
Yeah.
Excuse me for if I got you excited.
All right.
After Alan walks away, it would take investigators days
to discover exactly what he dumped in the river,
leading them through a twisted maze of misleading clues and disturbing discoveries
and what might be the worst crime these small-town officers will ever uncover.
Oh, it stinks bad.
You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose,
but you can't pick your family.
There is no body found.
He was reduced down to nothing.
It's a routine late spring in central Idaho.
Tucked deep within its mountains sits the remote town of Chalice,
a place surrounded on all sides by rugged terrain and long stretches of wilderness.
And at the center of it all runs the Salmon River,
better known as the River of No Return.
The small town of Chalice is home to fewer than a thousand residents.
Crime rates here are remarkably low, and serious violent homicides are unheard of.
But that's about to change, because a heinous crime happened somewhere in this town,
and what's left of it now is in the Salmon River, waiting to be found.
Salmon River
The investigation begins on an early Sunday,
on an early Saturday afternoon,
less than a year ago,
when an elderly woman walks into the local police station to report someone missing.
When he's upset, I'm just surprised he hasn't been back to see.
That's why I'm concerned.
Yeah.
Do you know what he was wearing last, when he left?
A pair of boots, blue jeans, and I think it was a dark t-shirt and baseball cap.
And he's got a little pug rider that is with him everywhere.
Who is Patrick to you?
Just one of my dear kids that I've taken under my wing.
Okay, so not biological?
No.
Okay.
It was a picture.
Um, yeah, picture, okay.
Is that, does this picture look, resemble what he looks like right now?
Um, his beard is a little fuller, and his hair is better shaped than that.
The man in those photos is 47-year-old Patrick Shelton.
His adoptive mother, Helen, goes on to explain that Patrick spends most of his time up in the mountains,
cutting and selling.
He also goes to the forest to find firewood, often late at night.
He's got a chainsaw, usually at least one weapon on him, and his dog Ryder is always
by his side.
Additionally, Patrick doesn't really have a fixed place to stay.
He moves between properties, parking motorhomes and trailers on other people's land, often
getting into disputes when it's time to leave.
In most missing person cases, it takes days before investigators get a solid lead to work
with.
But in the town of Chalice?
That process is hard.
Chalice is about to be cut short.
"I remember you mentioned something about, when you talked about him going to Alan Bruce's,
it seemed like you said something to where, they had some conflict recently, they have?"
"Yeah."
"Okay.
Do you know why he went there?"
"Um, he was supposed to go move his motorhomes, and when he got out there, Alan had moved
them with a bulldozer."
"Okay."
"Not good.
Probably screwed up the transmissions, and I don't know."
The name Helen mentions immediately rings a bell.
Because officers know exactly what happened.
Exactly who she's talking about.
Seventy-year-old Alan Bruce is a local resident with a rural property just out of town, working
odd jobs, including welding and mechanical work.
But that's not what people in Chalice know him for.
Because Alan has a different reputation, built on constant disputes and ongoing conflicts
with other locals.
Just earlier in the year, he was reported for allegedly throwing gas bombs and setting
a woman's property on fire, so based on Helen's statement, officers prepare to head out and
speak with Alan, see if he can point them in the right direction.
At this point, officers aren't too surprised that Alan's name came up, and don't expect
anything serious.
In reality, something already happened between Alan and Patrick just a night ago that ended
very gruesomely.
While officers are on their way to question him, Alan is still in the middle of covering
things up.
In just a few seconds, a deputy pulls up to his property.
Hey Alan!
How's it going?
One thing after another.
Hey, I was just coming to chat with you, we had had a report that no one knows where Pat
is right now?
Yeah, they don't.
Okay.
And I just wanted to touch bases with you, because I know he was getting, or sorry, you
got the stuff off your property, but he was going to come by to pick it up, right?
Yeah.
Did you ever see him on that?
I did.
Okay.
They came by here, he was unhappy, very unhappy.
Okay.
Yeah.
Did he have a verbal argument or something?
Or he was just, okay.
And he went and got his stuff then, or?
Well, he still has some stuff here.
He said he wanted to go cut some wood, he needs some money, so he's probably out, somewhere
out there.
Maybe broke down, I don't know.
I'm just trying to create a timeline for, so I know who last saw him.
So when, when was that he showed up here?
Two nights ago.
Two nights ago?
Three nights ago.
Let's see, what is it?
Thursday night.
Okay.
In the middle of the conversation, the deputy notices something off about his property.
He's not sure what it is.
He's not sure what's going on.
And he's not sure what's going on.
Oh, just the steel there poking up?
Oh, OK.
All right.
They've moved Patrick's motorhomes himself because of the ongoing disputes and problems
between the two, which sounds normal considering they're frequent business partners.
But as the conversation continues, the deputy takes note of Alan's shifting body language
and quietly requests another officer to the scene.
There's a noticeable tension in the way Alan carries himself.
This is because while he's speaking to the deputy, his sole focus is on the barrels sitting
just a few feet away.
With Patrick's dismembered body.
Yeah, that one looks open. That looks. I think it looks cut.
If that is a deadbolt, then, you know, that's an additional. I'm assuming Alan had to access it to put it in neutral.
Technically, you could be looking at unlawful entry.
Clearly, the locks have been tampered with,
consistent with Alan's explanation that he moved the motorhome himself.
It's a small detail, but one that could give officers grounds to detain him later on,
depending on how this unfolds.
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Officers can't search inside the motorhome,
so they step back, leave the scene, and head towards Big Hill, where Patrick might be.
At this stage, there is still no confirmed crime.
Alan has been forthcoming, and nothing directly points to anything serious just yet.
But by the end of this night, police will have more than one suspect on their hands,
and what might be the worst crime this town will ever see.
Roughly two hours later,
deputies arrive at Big Hill, where Patrick was known to frequent for cutting firewood.
On the ground, deputies notice tire marks and begin following them.
And as they continue along the trail, they spot something in the distance.
A red pickup truck matching the description of Patrick's vehicle, with a damaged windshield.
Pat! Hello!
This windshield is Patrick's.
Yeah, I think that's normal. I believe so.
Hey, Pat!
Pat!
Pat, it's the Coastal County Sheriff's Office! Can you hear us?
Dog's in the seat.
Alive?
What was the dog's name?
Uh, Ryder.
Ryder, buddy.
Ryder!
Is it awake?
No, it's not moving.
Dog's been in here a while. He's messed himself.
Oh, he's moving.
It's definitely a he, by the way.
Oh, hi, baby!
We're gonna get you some water, okay?
Where'd he go?
Where did he go?
Miraculously, Patrick's dog, Ryder, is still alive after two full days, but he's severely dehydrated.
As deputies pull Ryder from the vehicle and give him water, they notice something else.
Patrick's chainsaw is missing from the truck, suggesting he might have been in a car accident.
might still be somewhere nearby, and while they discuss their next steps, Ryder suddenly begins
reacting to something in the air. Dogs like Ryder have a sense of smell up to 100,000 times more
powerful than humans, comparable even to trained police canine units. Without realizing it,
officers have stumbled onto their strongest lead yet, and Ryder might guide them directly towards
the answer they're looking for. Poor buddy. What's up? No. So that makes me think he could be
down lower if he would because his chainsaw's not here. Yeah. He always has his chainsaw. I'm
thinking so. I'll go with you. I kind of want to walk down there and see if his behavior still
points that way. Right. Let's walk him. Come on.
Dude, you gotta give me a break.
We can't go down that. That is a completely down. That is, there is no angle to that.
I'm arguing with a dog. As luck would have it, the dog picks up a scent,
but can't pinpoint a specific location. The reason for that is something officers have
not realized yet, because there is no single place where Patrick might be. He's already been
dead for two nights, dismembered with his own chainsaw, and scattered across the very mountains
deputies are now searching. Some of his remains are already floating down the river of no return,
just 20 miles from where they're standing. None of this is apparent to deputies yet, so they
decide to take a closer look at Patrick's pickup truck for any additional clues. What they notice in
the truck is a very sketchy, dark red staining across the interior, heavily soaked towels on the
driver's seat, items marked with blood, and a discarded mail letter with the name Alan Bruce
on it. Something violent happened here, and the more deputies think about it, the more obvious
what happened to Patrick becomes. So before the evening ends, they secure the scene and return
to town where they talk to other acquaintances of Patrick who collectively make one thing crystal
clear. Alan had an ongoing feud with Patrick. He recently moved his motorhome using heavy equipment
and damaged it in the process, and he's the only person anyone can think of who might want to hurt
Patrick. With that in mind, investigators formally identify Alan Bruce as the primary suspect in
Patrick Shelton's disappearance. But the reality and discoveries awaiting investigators in the
coming hours are anything but straightforward, as they'll soon find themselves investigating more
than one suspect. For the time being, though, search warrants are requested for both properties,
and Idaho State Police are called in, bringing in a team of experienced detectives.
However, as the multi-agency effort is underway, someone in town is simultaneously running their
own homicide cover-up operation. As night falls, Alan moves quietly,
continuing to dump body parts and evidence in the river, and burning anything that could tie him to
what he's done. But he doesn't know if he's going to be able to make it out alive, or if he's going
to die. At the same time, police's search and rescue units are mobilized,
preparing to comb through the surrounding terrain for any sign of Patrick.
Around midnight, Deputy Mike is sent to patrol near Patrick's truck,
monitoring the area in case anything changes. A few hours into his shift, something does.
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Who are you? Stop right there. Just go ahead and stop right there.
So what are you coming out here for?
That guy there, Patrick Shelton, that's his stuff. I'm kind of looking after him a little bit.
Okay.
Car down here, and I try to come down here and investigate, see if someone's ripping him off.
I didn't know it was you guys.
Okay, well, I turned my lights on, and you still were shining your light at me.
Yeah, you had your lights on me. I couldn't see where I was going.
Okay, I'm saying I turned my red and blue lights on.
Yeah.
And you were still spotlighting me, and then I told you, I instructed you to turn it off.
I don't like lights in my eyes about as much as you don't.
You know, you had yours and mine, so I guess we're even.
No, it's not even.
You're just keeping an eye on. Patrick Shelton.
Okay.
Got a little fever problem going on down here, and I just want to make sure you work with that, guys.
You having a little what problem?
Thieving.
Thievery.
Thievery, okay.
Talk to you to tell me about that. He'll tell you.
Okay. Yeah, make sure nobody's ripping shit off down here.
Okay.
All right.
Two seventy, two forty. We can calm down. I'm code for it.
Out here, in complete darkness, Alan Bruce suddenly appears.
Nothing about this encounter adds up, because at this point, Alan isn't just the last person to see Patrick alive.
He's been in a dispute with him, moved his motor home after he disappeared, and now he's out here in the middle of the night claiming he's checking on Patrick's property and protecting it from theft.
In reality, he came here to finish work.
He didn't have time to deal with what he started, to destroy evidence he didn't have time to deal with earlier when deputies interrupted him.
Worse yet, just minutes ago, he was at the River of No Return a couple miles away, disposing of what was left of Patrick.
Deputy Mike doesn't know any of this yet, but this creepy encounter makes it clear that Alan knows something police don't.
Unfortunately for him, this is where things begin to crumble, because coming back here tonight is the mistake that's about to collapse his entire coverage.
In the early hours of the following morning, investigators use the overnight developments and the encounter with Alan to accelerate the approval of search warrants.
With everything they've seen so far, it's clear Alan knows something they don't, and they need to find out what that is.
To do that, they put a plan in motion.
First, get Alan off the property, search it, and if any hard evidence is found, bring him back and control him.
Second, get Alan off the property, search it, and if any hard evidence is found, bring him back and control him.
Third, get Alan off the property, search it, and if any hard evidence is found, bring him back and control him.
Fourth, get Alan off the property, search it, and if any hard evidence is found, bring him back and control him.
So while detectives get the search warrants approved, one deputy is sent to Alan's property with a simple objective.
Get Alan into the car and keep him away from the property to avoid destruction of any evidence.
Alan, on the other hand, is the only one who can do it.
and believes he's already taken care of all the incriminating evidence and that there's nothing left to find.
When Deputy Kelly arrives at the lot, Allen has no clue how quickly his entire cover-up plot will come crashing down on him.
Hey, Allen. How's it going?
Hopefully your day's a little better than when I last ran into you. You said everything was. Well, your truck's still broken down, I guess, so maybe that's not the case.
You're doing all right?
You can just hop in the front there.
I sure hope he turns up. He's got no good business.
Yeah, he's still got stuff on your property, too, to get off, too, huh?
So, I mean, y'all were getting along for a while there, but then. I mean, what happened there, even?
He just started accusing you of stuff, or.?
Yeah. And there was nothing I could say to convince him that it wasn't me.
Well, I appreciate you being available to just chat with him a bit more there.
They're the professionals. They've got. Yeah.
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We've got questions I probably didn't ask you.
Even as the deputy tries to subtly probe for more information,
nothing useful comes out of it and Alan sticks to his story.
Interestingly, though, Alan appears noticeably more relaxed,
likely because he's confident that there's no way police can tie him to a crime.
Roughly 30 minutes later, deputies and detectives arrive at the property.
While Alan waits inside his car, the discovery of the evidence he failed to cover up,
starts with Patrick's motorhome.
Sheriff's office. Make yourself known.
Okay.
Let's see what this is.
You got a gun case?
Patrick's empty gun box is consistent with earlier statements that he always keeps a firearm with him.
The problem is, that gun is nowhere to be found in the motorhome and it was never found in his pickup truck the previous day.
With Patrick's motorhome cleared,
officers move over to Atkinson's car to find the gun.
and it was never found in his pickup truck the previous day. Alan owns multiple structures and vehicles on the lot, and after clearing a few of them, deputies find no obvious signs of a crime.
It seems like Alan's cover-up operation is successful so far, but that begins to change as deputies notice something unusual lingering across parts of the property.
It's already dead. Cool.
Something stinks.
Oh, it stinks bad.
Just gotta pull that one down.
So we're gonna, we're just gonna hold on on this trailer until we can get keys.
If we, if he won't give us keys, then we'll go from there, but we're gonna, we need to hold on this until we get that.
It's probably in that freshly moved.
Do we want to call out the cadaver, dog?
Let's go ahead and do it while we're here. We've got it cleared. It might be the best way to get something to hold him.
As the search continues, deputies can smell an odor of burnt meat across the property.
As the search continues, deputies can smell an odor of burnt meat across parts of the lot, but no clear source.
Patrick was like one of the only people in here.
So, RG, I have a beef with you too.
- Okay.
- Let's put, bring your beef.
We know who you are, drug addicts.
Just remember you me with all of us.
And I'd taken pictures from the sheriff's office parking lot
thinking that, well, maybe he'd think I'm a sheriff
and maybe he'd pack his, you know,
or leave Allen 1 and get the out of town, you know?
So I put, with me, with all of us, you'll lose.
Best thing for you to do is pack up
and leave Custer County and don't come back.
- Allen's brother goes on
to pull up additional messages between him and Patrick.
The messages he shares show the feud escalating over time,
primarily over Patrick refusing to move his property
off the land and accusations
that he'd been stealing from Allen.
As detectives read through them,
it becomes clear that Allen's brother
wasn't just aware of the conflict,
he was involved in it at some point.
This only adds to investigator's suspicions.
So instead of continuing to circle around it,
the detective says exactly what he's thinking.
- Yeah, it's-
- And no sign of Shelton though, huh?
Find a body or anything or?
- There's signs of Shelton,
just not living signs of Shelton.
One of the things I'm trying to wrap my head around is,
I'm like, how did he do that by himself?
He's not a very big guy.
Like how would he move things around
without somebody helping him?
He, let's just say that if he shot Shelton
and took him somewhere and dumped his body,
who would he call to help him?
- I have no clue.
I mean, he wouldn't call me.
- Right, that's what I'm saying.
Does he have good friends that?
- I don't know.
I don't know what he's capable of, you know?
I mean-
- Right.
- I don't know anybody that would help him move something,
you know, help him commit a crime, you know?
I mean, my wife would shoot me if I helped him, you know?
- How long have you been married?
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- Well, I'm going to give you a shout out to my wife.
- Oh, my God.
- Oh, my God.
- I'm going to give you a shout out to my wife.
- Oh, my God.
- Oh, my God.
- Oh, my God.
- Oh, my God.
- Who knows, but you can't pick your family.
- On that interesting remark,
Larry shifts from defending his brother
to no longer being certain
and begins to see things the way investigators do.
With nothing else to add,
police wrap up the interview with Larry,
still uncertain of his involvement.
Now, they can finally turn their attention back to Alan,
who's still sitting in the car,
completely unaware of what's just been uncovered on his lot.
At this point, investigators have enough
to place Alan under arrest and pursue homicide charges.
The problem is they don't have a body
and they don't have a confession,
both of which are critical in building a solid case,
especially when it comes to proving
exactly what happened and how.
But with the evidence discovered on his property,
this is their best chance to confront Alan directly
and push for a confession.
The stakes are extremely high.
If Alan plays his cards right,
a skilled defense attorney can create just enough reasonable
doubt to get him out of this scot-free.
- We've got a cadaver dog hitting on other spots
on the property that have bone fragments.
And the only thing that dog was treated to hit on
is dead humans.
You know, there was only two people here that night,
you and him, right?
There's nobody else that I can talk to.
Can't find him.
And if you didn't do it and somebody else did,
can you point me in the right direction?
- I can't do that.
I don't know anybody else that's out here.
- Well, that's like I said, I don't either.
I don't know anybody else.
- Even after hearing this, Alan continues his denial.
But this is exactly why investigators brought him back
to the property.
It's a part of a strategy known as crime scene exposure.
Experienced detectives use this technique
to confront suspects with something directly tied
to the crime, like the scene itself
or key pieces of evidence.
This creates psychological pressure,
making it harder to maintain a lie
and often triggering unexpected reactions or slips
in their story.
So investigators take Alan out of the car
and bring him back to the center of the lot,
back to the very place where everything likely happened
to see if he will finally break.
- Well, we just, we want to be able to tell the prosecutor
you helped us every which way you could.
- I can conduct my case and go to prison
for the rest of my life, what?
- I don't know.
- I can't tell you what the prosecutor did.
- I can't tell you what the,
- I gotta go through a jury trial now.
- You don't have to go through nothing right now.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- The way it works here is he doesn't feel like
we should let you stay free, right?
So we're still gonna continue to investigate this case
with your help or without your help.
We're still gonna dig through.
- Yeah.
- But there's still some things that like concern me,
like, and I don't know if you asked him about,
like how, who drove the truck up in the mountains?
- Nobody drove it, I towed it up there.
- Oh, you towed it up there?
- Yeah. - Okay.
With which vehicle?
- My dog. - Okay.
- She towed mine and towed it up here.
- Oh, okay.
What'd you do with the dog?
- Left it in the truck.
I was just distracted, but there's not just in the truck.
Maybe it was, maybe it was, yeah.
- That dog didn't, I didn't wanna kill it.
- Yeah, it didn't do nothing.
Yeah, so like, yeah, that's just,
I mean, we're, we're in a rock and a hard place right now.
- Right?
- It's where we've been all day.
It's where we're gonna continue to be until we can completely
wrap this up and figure out what the hell actually happened.
- Well, before you take it,
I'd like to lock it up.
- Okay.
- Yeah, we're not gonna leave this unsecured.
- Yeah, we're not gonna leave it like that.
- I mean, we'll, we'll, we'll lock it all up
and bring in the keys.
- Yeah, close the gate or whatever.
- Yeah.
- So if I didn't call, I'm in trouble.
- Well, that's part of it,
but you also destroyed some evidence.
- Well, what did you?
- I don't know.
I've never been in that situation.
- Alan.
- Dude, come on.
- Did you burn a body?
- Come on. - Yeah, I did.
- And you didn't tell anybody.
So like, look at it from, from, from our point of view.
You know, we gotta do the right thing for,
for Patrick's family.
You know what I mean?
We gotta try to find that body.
You know, we gotta do the right thing for his family.
- There is no body found.
Nothing.
- Did you chop him up?
- No, I threw him in a burn barrel
with a bunch of wood underneath him.
Yeah, I chopped him up.
I took a chainsaw to him.
- Okay, where's the chainsaw?
- It's gone.
It's gone. - Found it?
Did you throw it in the river?
- I got rid of it.
- Cozy season is ahead
and you'll be spending way more time inside.
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- Wait a minute.
I burned it.
- You burned the chainsaw?
- Yeah.
- Is it in the barrel?
- Yeah.
- And I've never chainsawed a body,
but I think there would be like blood and skin
and gristle and stuff, you know?
- Yeah, it was ugly.
- And so like, where's that at?
Where's, like, how did you clean that up?
- Took a shovel and rigged up everything I could,
washed it down with a hose and put a Clorox on it.
- And the chainsaw's where?
- Here's the burn barrel.
Burned it on the last day.
- Yeah.
- Alan finally cracks, admitting that he shot Patrick,
dismembered him, and burned the body
before disposing of the remains.
With a confession now on record,
investigators turn their attention to a critical question.
Did Alan act alone,
or is there something even darker he's still hiding?
But before detectives can press further,
Alan makes a surprising claim.
- He came up with that pistol.
We're gonna do him.
- And we're not, we're not arguing.
We're not arguing that point.
We're just trying to figure out, like,
what you did with the body, how you did it,
and where it's at, if there's anything left.
- Not much.
- Did you have any help with it?
- No.
I'll see if I can shoot shut up and shovel it off.
- Do you see our point?
I mean, what we're trying to do at all, Alan?
- I tried to hide it and get away with it.
- Yeah.
- And, like I said, we're just trying to, you know,
get some closure for his family and present the picture
so that everybody understands why you did what you did.
- Said you better pull the trigger.
Mother comes coming up with the gun.
At that point, it was me or him, but. - Despite Alan's claims that he killed Patrick in self-defense,
defense, it hardly explains the brutality and concealment that followed.
Following this, Alan is arrested and charged with first-degree murder along with multiple
additional charges.
Later that day, dive teams and officers are sent to the river area where Alan claimed
he dumped the remains, but despite extensive search efforts, nothing of evidentiary value
is recovered.
In the days that follow, police obtain a warrant to search Alan's phone where they find the
most critical evidence in the case.
On Alan's phone, detectives find a hostile exchange from May 7th where Patrick texts
Alan, "You will be seeing me soon.
Make your peace."
And Alan responds, "Never be at my place after dark or else."
But it's in the camera roll where they find what they had been unable to locate for days:
a photo of Patrick, dead inside the cab of his truck with his silver pistol next to him.
The photo was taken on the same day.
It was taken at 6:25 a.m. on May 8th.
When asked about it, Alan claims he took the photo as proof, in case he ever needed it.
A couple months later, in July 2025, police receive a call from fishermen reporting a
burn barrel floating in a different area of the Salmon River.
Officers and divers recover the barrel and transport it for forensic examination, but
no human remains or items linked to Patrick are found inside, likely because everything
had already been destroyed or lost in the River of No Return.
As for the missing firearms, investigators later uncover both the rifle and Patrick's
silver pistol at the residence of an associate of Alan.
The man claims Alan brought the weapons to him asking him to sell them, and with no evidence
tying his associates or his brother to the homicide or the cover-up, investigators determine
that Alan acted alone.
In October 2025, Alan's initial charges were redacted.
He was sentenced to second-degree murder and destruction of evidence after Alan entered
an Alford plea, meaning he maintains his innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors have
enough evidence to convict him.
In November 2025, a judge denies Alan's last-minute attempt to withdraw the plea and sentences
him to 20 years in prison.
He must serve at least 10 years before becoming eligible for parole, meaning he will get a
chance to walk free in his 80s, but given the severity of the crime, there is a very real
possibility he never leaves prison at all.
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Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Alan Bruce, a local resident with a history of disputes, is identified as the primary suspect after investigators discover evidence linking him to the dismemberment and concealment of Patrick Shelton’s body.
The crime unfolds in remote Chalice, Idaho, where Patrick, an adoptive son of Helen, went missing after a violent conflict with Alan, who moved his motorhome with heavy equipment and later disposed of body parts in the Salmon River.
A cadaver dog and forensic investigation uncover signs of a brutal homicide, including blood-stained items, a missing chainsaw, and a photo of Patrick’s dead body in his truck, which Alan claims was taken as proof, ultimately leading to his arrest and conviction on charges of first-degree murder and destruction of evidence.
Summary:
In the remote mountain town of Chalice, Idaho, a heinous crime unfolds when 47-year-old Patrick Shelton, a man with a history of living off the grid and frequent disputes with local residents, vanishes. His adoptive mother, Helen, reports him missing, prompting police to investigate. The inquiry leads them to 70-year-old Alan Bruce, a long-time rival with whom Patrick had a violent conflict over property.
Officers discover troubling evidence at Alan’s property: a damaged motorhome, missing chainsaw, bloodstains, and a discarded letter with Alan’s name. A cadaver dog detects human remains, and a photo of Patrick’s dead body in his truck is found on Alan’s phone, confirming the murder. Despite Alan’s denial and claim of self-defense, the brutality and cover-up—such as dismembering the body, burning it, and disposing of remains in the river—reveal a clear motive.
Though no body is recovered and no other suspects are linked, the evidence is overwhelming. Alan is arrested, charged with first-degree murder and destruction of evidence, and later enters an Alford plea, admitting guilt in terms of prosecution’s case while maintaining innocence. He is sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 10 years before parole eligibility.
The case remains one of the most disturbing crimes in the area, highlighting the dangers of unchecked personal feuds and the power of forensic investigation to uncover hidden truths.
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Alan Bruce is accused of murdering Patrick Shelton, dismembering his body with a chainsaw, and disposing of the remains in the river after covering up the crime.
Investigators found evidence such as a missing chainsaw, blood-stained items, a photo of Patrick's body in his truck, and a timeline showing conflict between Alan and Patrick, leading to the conclusion that Alan committed the crime.
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