Virtual memorial for Dylan Round’s 22nd birthday happening Thursday evening
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IDAHO FALLS — The world is invited to celebrate Dylan Rounds’ birthday Thursday evening by lighting a candle, planting a seed and joining a virtual memorial.
The young man, originally from eastern Idaho, would be turning 22 years old on Aug. 1. He disappeared from his farm in the desert town of Lucin, Utah, in May 2022 and his body was not found for nearly two years.
James Brenner led authorities to Rounds’ buried remains in April and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder a few weeks later. Candice Cooley and Justin Rounds, Dylan Rounds’ parents, were in the courtroom last month when Brenner was sentenced to serve three to 30 years in prison for killing their son.
RELATED | Body of Dylan Rounds found in remote Utah desert, family says
“He seemed a lot darker than the times before,” Justin Rounds tells EastIdahoNews.com. “It was quiet in the courtroom. I was pretty nervous. I’m just glad it’s over. That’s all I can say about it.”
Cooley says Brenner appeared “evil” in the courtroom and refused to look her, or anyone else, in the eye. She was in Arizona on April 9 when law enforcement called and said they had recovered her son’s body.
“It was just a “finally” moment. Now we never had to worry about, ‘What is that (call from a) 435 or 801 area code going to tell us this time? What is this email from the prosecuting attorney’s office?’ We were constantly on pins and needles to answer the phone or open an email. That’s all gone now. We don’t have to have that anxiety anymore. Dylan is back in Idaho,” Cooley explains.
Rounds’ parents have been overwhelmed by the support they’ve received from people everywhere. Strangers have sent blankets, flowers, gifts, emails and kind notes expressing their love and Rounds’ family wanted to do something involving others for Rounds’ birthday.
“We’re doing a virtual memorial with Missing in America network from 6-7 p.m. (on Thursday),” Cooley says. “We have some guests coming on and people who want to share stories. It’s just a way for the public to have some closure with how much they follow Dylan’s case and have come to love him.”
Cooley says she has shipped around 2,000 sunflower candles and seed packets to people all over the world. During the memorial, a slideshow will be shown of people holding their lit candles – many of them standing next to sunflowers. The memorial will be livestreamed here, and those who watch are invited to light a candle wherever they are.
Rounds’ family is making arrangements for a formal memorial service and proper burial in September. Details will be announced at a later date.
“I just want to thank everybody out there. The friends, the acquaintances, the messages from total strangers, the awkward conversations at the gas station where people don’t really know what to say – I just felt a lot of love and support through this,” Rounds says. “I get kind of emotional about it but I just wanted to say thanks.”
Watch our entire interview with Justin Rounds and Candice Cooley in the video player above.