Bowling Green police chief accuses county sheriff of corruption over death investigation

PIKE COUNTY, Mo. — The police chief of Bowling Green, Mo. is accusing Pike County Sheriff Stephen Korte and other county officials of interfering with an investigation into the death of an Illinois man in December.

Nathaniel Mueller, 23, was reported missing after his car was found abandoned along a county road west of Frankford, Missouri, roughly 20 miles from Bowling Green.  A news release at the time of his disappearance suggested that Mueller had consumed edibles, wandered off into the woods near a relative’s property, and left behind his clothes and wallet. His body was recovered two months later in a nearby farm pond.

But Mueller’s family, including his mother Tammy Mueller and his godmother Ashley Ashby, have questioned the narrative of his disappearance.

A crowd gathered on Friday at a press event, insisting that the story didn’t add up.

“You didn’t expect that he had family like us,” Ashby said. “You didn’t expect family to come in strong behind Nathaniel Mueller. You’re not going to play with minds.”

The purpose of the announcement, held at the Pike County Courthouse in Bowling Green, was police chief Ty Bounds stepping forward to say that he wanted to help Mueller’s family in their search for answers.

Bounds had hired an attorney and claimed that Korte and other of his department were involved in a cover-up.

Bounds said he had been investigating a robbery in Bowling Green involving three suspects, and believed that Mueller’s disappearance was connected to the crime.

“We were able to uncover a close intimate relationship between a robbery suspect and a high-ranking member of the sheriff’s department,” Bounds said.

Bounds also claimed Korte and others knew the location of Mueller’s body for weeks before it was officially recovered.

“The sheriff has interfered in an investigation that placed numerous Bowling Green officers, sheriff’s deputies, and Missouri Highway Patrolmen at risk,” Bounds said.

The Highway Patrol has now taken over the investigation. For that reason, Bounds and his attorney said they could not discuss further details.

“The law is the law. That’s what it is,” Bounds said. “If it’s broken, whether you’re a cop or not, the treatment should not be special.”

Korte denied wrongdoing afterward, telling FirstAlert4 that he stood by his department’s investigation. He also said he had worked closely with Mueller’s family and was saddened to hear their claims. He, too, said he could not go into detail about accusations of corruption in the investigation.

“When you’re conducting a professional matter, you let the facts compete and stand for themselves,” Korte said.

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