SALT LAKE CITY — For a year and a half, Judi Rinker has tried to remain patient as she waits for word on the status of her missing son and his two friends, who are presumed to be dead — likely murdered.

Sunday marks 18 months since Levi Collins, 34, Danny Gallegos, 35, and Braden Emerson, 23, disappeared after announcing they were taking off for a day of ATV riding in Bountiful.

At this point, Rinker says her patience is just about gone.

"We're frustrated. We want something done. They're human. They deserve it. They deserve the justice," she said. "I want justice for my son and his friends."

Adding to her frustration is that the families of the three men have been told the investigation by the Salt Lake City Police Department is essentially done.

"'There is no more evidence to be presented.' Those are her words," Rinker said the lead detective on the case told the families.

The case was turned over to the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office months ago, a Salt Lake police spokeswoman confirmed this week. No criminal charges have been filed in the case.

The prosecutors have asked the department for some follow-up information on a couple of undisclosed items, said Sgt. Robin Heiden. Otherwise, the investigation has been completed.

Police and prosecutors met with the families in October and again in February.

"The D.A.'s office told us they wanted to dot their i's, cross their t's," said Rinker, who is Collins' mother.

District Attorney Sim Gill said Friday that his office is still reviewing the case and it is still active.

"Like any complex investigation, we are working to a resolution," Gill said, adding that his office is working to prove what it needs to prove. "These are not simple matters."

But the family believes there's already "plenty of evidence" to warrant the filing of criminal charges.

Earlier this week, several search warrants describing that evidence were unsealed in 3rd District Court. They are the latest in a series of about a dozen warrants that have been unsealed over the past year.

The warrants point to two men as potential suspects: a father who was sentenced to federal prison in November based on evidence collected during the homicide investigation, and a son who is scheduled to go to trial later this year on a federal indictment stemming from alleged dealings with one of the three missing men.

"I feel (homicide) charges should have been filed clear back in October. It's been 18 months — one year and a half since this all happened. My son has been declared deceased," Rinker said. "We don't know what they're waiting for. Our boys deserve (justice). … Our boys' children deserve it, the family. We're all victims in this.

"Our boys are dead, but their children live on (with) no answers."

Mystery disappearances

On Nov. 1, 2014, Collins, Gallegos and Emerson told family members they were leaving to ride their ATVs near the "B" on Bountiful's mountainside. On Nov. 2, Gallegos' aunt called police to report the three men were missing.

On Nov. 3, a business owner called Salt Lake Animal Control to report that a barking dog was inside an abandoned Chevy Tahoe near the Jordan River surplus canal at 1740 W. 1500 South. The dog belonged to Collins.

Inside the vehicle, detectives found a "large" amount of blood, so much that the person who suffered the injury likely would not have survived. DNA testing indicated the blood was from Collins and Emerson. Police believe both were murdered inside the Tahoe.

In earlier search warrants, detectives said it was "highly likely that Danny Gallegos was killed inside of (an) old motor home" that was seized as part of the investigation.

But according to a newly unsealed warrants, Justin Christopher and his attorney, Loni Deland, went to Salt Lake police in April of 2015, after a detailed KSL story about the case was published, to tell them Christopher's father shot and killed Gallegos in their store months earlier on Nov. 1.

"Justin stated that at this point his father, Richard Christopher, walked up behind Danny Gallegos and shot him in the back of the head, killing Danny," a search warrant affidavit filed in 3rd District Court states.

During the same interview, police asked Christopher about Gallegos' missing jewelry.

"Justin told me that Danny's jewelry was located in the engine turbo compartment of the 'new RV' (2001 Gulfstream)," the warrant states.

A "black soft gun case that contained a victim's jewelry" and other items were subsequently recovered from the RV, according to a return on the warrant.

None of the warrants offer much information regarding how Collins and Emerson were killed. The bodies of all three men are still missing.

Richard and Justin Christopher

Richard and Justin Christopher have never been charged or arrested in connection with the investigation into the missing men. But sources close to the investigation have told the Deseret News the men have been considered persons of interest for some time. Justin Christopher was questioned by police about Gallegos' whereabouts just two days after he disappeared.

The Christophers were the owners of JC Custom Jewelery, 230 W. 200 South. Justin Christopher also helped Gallegos, a drug trafficker, launder money, according to numerous affidavits.

"Danny Gallegos never registered any of his vehicles or motorcycles in his own name, but used friends and family to register them for him," a warrant served in March of 2015 states.

Justin Christopher was indicted in federal court with conspiracy to launder money and a second count of money laundering. He is accused of using his jewelry business to launder money for Gallegos, including the cash purchase of a Lamborghini worth an estimated $145,000.

Gallegos was identified in the federal complaint as being a "drug dealer" who became a confidential informant for the FBI in July of 2014.

"CI (confidential informant) is commonly in possession of large amounts of U.S. currency which are proceeds of his drug trafficking. CI owns a Lamborghini. When CI purchases large assets, CI would use a nominee to assign ownership in an attempt to thwart law enforcement from identifying and seizing CI’s assets. Christopher and CI are very close and CI uses Christopher as a nominee because he is a jeweler and jewelers can substantiate large assets and cash. CI has been involved in jewelry store robberies and Christopher has purchased the stolen merchandise from CI," according to the federal charges.

"CI was intending to use Christopher as a nominee for the purchase of a house located at Kearns. … CI told the real estate agent that CI … was ready to make an all-cash offer without the Realtor showing CI the home. CI was going to be the purchaser of the Kearns home but instructed the Realtor that Christopher’s name was to be used on all documentation," the federal complaint against Christopher states.

"The purchase price of the home was going to be $159,900. CI asked the Realtor if the title company would accept the payment for the home in cash."

According to several search warrants, Gallegos went to the Christophers' jewelry store on Nov. 1, 2014 — the day the trio disappeared — with $200,000 cash for the purpose of buying a house.

"Justin told him that he had decided that he no longer wanted to purchase the house for him. According to Justin, Danny then verbally threatened him. Justin stated that at this point, his father, Richard Christopher, walked up behind Danny Gallegos and shot him in the back of the head, killing Danny," police wrote in a warrant served in April of 2015.

The jewelry store closed three days after the three men went missing.

Police evidence

Richard and Justin Christopher were described as being "very poor" prior to Nov. 1, 2014, and they "could barely get by," police wrote in an affidavit filed Nov. 24, 2014.

But witnesses told detectives that later that month, Justin Christopher was talking about the three missing men. "Justin was bragging that 'his boys did that' and also bragged about it being a robbery and how he has come into a lot of money," a warrant states.

Other evidence in the case that detectives document in various search warrants includes:

• Gallegos "was making and receiving numerous telephone calls throughout the day on Nov. 1, 2014. All telephone activity abruptly ended at 1:31 p.m." That last call lasted 83 seconds and was to Justin Christopher.

• On Jan. 15, 2015, FBI agents seized a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta purchased by Justin Christopher on Nov. 4, 2014. In the cup holder, they reported finding a cellphone similar to the phone Gallegos used prior to his disappearance.

"This phone was sent to Dixie State University for a forensic examination. … There are several items of interest to this case that were found on the phone." The affidavit doesn't specify what the phone revealed.

• On Nov. 1, 2014, Justin Christopher asked an acquaintance if he could borrow his pickup truck. When he returned it, Christopher "recommended he clean the bed of the truck with bleach."

"Upon its return, the truck’s fuel tank was almost empty and there was between 500 and 600 miles on the trip odometer."

When investigators searched the truck, they found "totes, shovels, chains and tow straps, along with a bottle of bleach, and we also collected some blood in the bed of the truck."

• Justin Christopher also borrowed a Chevrolet Camaro from the truck owner.

"During a series of telephone calls between (the owner) and Christopher, Christopher told (the owner) that he got caught up in a murder and reiterated that (he) needed to clean the bed of the truck with bleach."

• "Underneath the passenger seat (of the Camaro) we located a .40 caliber Sig Sauer handgun. This gun has a small drop of blood on the left side of the slide."

• On Nov. 17, 2014, the mother of the Camaro owner called police to tell them that several items were found in a garbage can near their home that did not belong to them.

"The items were a shoe box with a black Smith and Wesson gun case inside. The gun case is empty. There was also a plastic bag with two pairs of gloves inside that appeared to be newer (because the new tags were found with them). The gloves had dirt and a grease-like substance on them."

• After the three men went missing, Justin Christopher purchased a motor home for $41,500 in cash, and a cargo trailer for $7,696. Richard Christopher also told a witness that his son had purchased Gallegos' Lamborghini.

On Nov. 21, 2014, Salt Lake police, with the assistance of a SWAT team, served a search warrant on the purchased motor home and cargo trailer. The Christophers initially refused to come out and tear gas was deployed, according to federal court documents. In the trailer, they found the Lamborghini as well as a clear plastic bag with "blood-like stains."

Inside the motor home, investigators found "numerous guns, ammunition, a bloody pillowcase, a large amount of cash, a large amount of jewelry and a knife that appeared to have a blood-like substance on it."

According to documents filed in federal court, 14 firearms were seized from the motor home and numerous loaded magazines.

Both Christophers were arrested and sent to the Salt Lake County Jail. Richard Christopher pleaded guilty in June to being a restricted person in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 44 months in federal prison.

'Jailhouse snitch'

A confidential informant, who was in the same jail cell as Justin Christopher, later disclosed to detectives that "Justin told (the informant) that his father (Richard) was upset with him purchasing the Lamborghini and putting it in his name. Justin alluded to the fact that 'someone' had to step in and cover for him.

"Justin also alluded that Danny (Gallegos) may be a snitch for the FBI. (The informant) told detectives that Justin stated that there were no shell casings in the Tahoe," according to an affidavit.

In another warrant served in February of 2015, detectives wrote: "According to the jailhouse snitch that was housed with Justin Christopher in the Salt Lake County Jail … Justin told this person that detectives would not find Gallegos' blood in the Tahoe, which is true."

Christopher's attorney, Deland, said Friday that he could not comment on any statements made in the search warrants. A year ago, he insisted his client "never killed anyone" and said Friday that statement still holds true.

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