Brian Hemmert, a 60-year-old resident of Alva, Florida, was last heard from around June 20, 2023. His disappearance was reported by a family member on August 28, 2023, prompting the Lee County Sheriff's Office to launch a missing persons investigation. During this investigation, detectives responded to the Hemmert residence on Yellow Wood Drive in the River Hall neighborhood.
Jake Hemmert, Brian's 31-year-old son, was initially encountered by investigators when they saw him driving his car. Jake provided misleading information, claiming his father was on a hunting trip in the western U.S. and that he had recently spoken to him on the phone. However, when investigators pinged Brian's phone, they determined it was in the vicinity of their shared home. A search warrant was obtained, and detectives found Brian's phone in Jake's bedroom, along with blood in the master bedroom.
On September 7, 2023, a thorough search of the home led to the discovery of Brian Hemmert's body inside a large chest freezer that was duct-taped shut and concealed beneath supplies. The freezer had been delivered to the home on June 22, around the time Brian's credit card and phone activity changed. Autopsy results confirmed that Brian died from gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Jake Hemmert was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Arizona for a burglary charge but was subsequently charged with second-degree murder, credit card fraud, and grand theft in connection with his father's death. It was revealed that Jake had spent approximately $23,000 on his father's credit card, starting around the time of Brian's disappearance. Additionally, Jake sold his father's tools via Facebook Marketplace and admitted to shooting his father in bed at his request, then cleaning and disposing of evidence.
Jake's confession included details of how he cleaned off a bloody mattress and moved it to the attic, covering it with trash bags. Fingerprints taken from the freezer matched Jake Hemmert’s. He was booked into the Lee County Jail and was due in court on October 16, 2023.
In August 2024, Jake Hemmert was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the second-degree murder of his father.
