On November 8, 2019, 38-year-old Shane Michael Nelson visited a childhood friend’s home in unincorporated Adams County, just outside Denver. A verbal argument with the friend, identified as Russell Montoya Jr., escalated and Montoya produced a handgun, firing four rounds that struck Nelson in the chest and head. Nelson died on the kitchen floor of the home.

In the days after the killing, Montoya built a makeshift tomb in his unfinished basement and encased Nelson’s body in concrete beneath the stairs, reportedly attempting to mask odors with various substances. The body remained hidden until Montoya’s daughter became suspicious of her father’s behavior and a foul smell from the basement; she alerted the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. A SWAT team served a search warrant at the Montoya residence on November 14, 2019, and found Nelson entombed in concrete. Montoya was arrested at the scene.

What details about the last hours Nelson spent at the house or the motive for the argument are still unclear to the public; anyone who knew Shane or has information about that day is asked to come forward.