Body found in abandoned Nye mine

An arrest has been made in the death of a missing Tonopah man whose body was discovered in an abandoned mine shaft about 30 miles east of Tonopah, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office reported.

As stated in a sheriff’s office news release, authorities in Texas arrested James Dean Remster’s son-in-law, identified as Tonopah resident Jeremy Burch, 46.

Remster, 62, was first reported missing on Dec, 19.

“As part of the investigation, detectives went to Mr. Remster’s son-in-law’s residence, where Mr. Remster had frequently stayed with his daughter and son-in-law,” the release noted. “Mr. Burch told detectives that he had last seen Mr. Remster on Dec. 3 of 2018. Mr. Burch also stated that he believed that Mr. Remster could be catching a bus to Tennessee.”

Local authorities, according to the release, said detectives received additional information after they initially interviewed Burch on Dec. 21, 2018.

“He and his wife hastily left Tonopah and traveled to Amarillo, Texas,” the release stated. “After numerous interviews, detectives identified that in early of January 2019, that (Jeremy) Burch had told people that he killed Mr. Remster and threw him in a mine shaft. Burch allegedly told people that after killing Mr. Remster, he went to the bank and withdrew cash from Mr. Remster’s bank account. He was also allegedly in possession of Mr. Remster’s identification and food stamp card.”

Through follow-up investigation and interviews, local detectives were able to identify the mine shaft where Remster’s body was located, according to the news release.

On March 16, Nye County Sheriff’s Office deputies and detectives, assisted by the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Hasty Rescue Mine Recovery team, located several blood-stained items of clothing in the mine, and the body of Mr. Remster,” the release noted.

“On March 17, 2019, Jeremy Burch was arrested in Amarillo, Texas and booked into the Potter County Detention Center,” according to the release, “He will be extradited to Pahrump in the coming days.”

Burch is facing charges of open murder, burglary, obtaining money under false pretenses, using a credit card without the owner’s consent and destruction of evidence, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Remster’s stepdaughter, Susie Taylor-Hibbs, of Bend, Oregon, said she’s thankful that authorities were able to eventually locate and arrest the suspect while noting that her half-sister, who is Burch’s wife, and Remster all lived together in Tonopah.

“He lived there off and on with my half-sister and her husband, who was the one that was arrested,” she said. “My stepfather does have his own biological children. It’s a big family and his death affected a lot of people. He was very funny, and extremely proud of his children and grandchildren. He had a big, huge heart.”

“We kind of feel that we now have a little closure, except we don’t know why,” Taylor-Hibbs said of Remster’s death. “We have no idea why.”

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com, on Twitter: @pvtimes