Corey Crooker, a 43-year-old Bradford man who had no fixed address and frequented towns in Vermont and New Hampshire, was last seen by family on January 9, 2025, with his last known communication on the evening of January 14. A welfare check was requested January 18, and by early February the Vermont State Police said the disappearance had become suspicious and potentially criminal.

Police focused on a property on Old Post Road in Bradford owned by James D. Nickles Jr., 42, and his girlfriend Lisa Akey, 41. Both initially told investigators Crooker left with an unknown woman in a dark-colored SUV. A confidential informant later told police Nickles shot Crooker twice in the head and once in the chest with a shotgun, then Nickles and Akey allegedly burned and dismembered the body over three days. Federal investigators reported Nickles confessed that he shot Crooker after an argument, and a search of the property reportedly uncovered bone fragments.

In May arrest actions followed: state charges against Nickles included second-degree murder, unauthorized burial or removal of a dead body, and providing false information; he was already in federal custody on firearms charges from the February search. Akey was arrested on alleged accessory after the fact, obstruction of justice, and providing false information. Does anyone have information about Crooker’s movements in January or sightings in the Bradford area?