In March 2021, 59-year-old Michael Goeman and his 31-year-old son, Vance Lakey, were found shot to death in a remote, overgrown area off an unmaintained county road in Algona. The father and son had been living on the streets in the Auburn area and had recently come into a large inheritance. Two small shovels were found near their bodies, a detail investigators say was linked to the method allegedly used to lure them to that location.

Authorities identified 40-year-old Richard Walter Bradley as a person of interest after he was seen driving the victims’ Dodge Durango and motorcycle. Prosecutors allege Bradley employed a scheme of claiming he had buried stolen gold to convince recently cash-rewarded people to help dig it up; besides Michael and Vance, investigators say at least two other people were targeted. Bradley was arrested in May 2021 on an arson-related allegation involving an attempted tow-lot fire and by December 2023 was charged in connection with the Goeman killings as part of an expanded complaint that includes multiple murder counts; he pleaded not guilty and the case is pending trial.

Did anyone in the Auburn or Algona area know Michael or Vance, or have information about their movements in early 2021?