Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson makes homicide arrest in cold case

Today, nearly five years after James Redmill Sr. was last seen by his neighbors, Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson delivered some news about his disappearance. Redmill lived in an area of western Shasta known as the Trinity Alps preserve when he went missing in 2021. He was 71 years old.

This afternoon, 55-year-old Nicholas Allen Beery was arraigned at the Shasta County Superior Court and is being held without bail for alleged homicide, along with firearm and drug-related charges. He was arrested after investigators allegedly found human remains on Beery’s neighboring property that were subsequently positively identified as Redmill’s. 

According to the press release, Redmill was first reported missing by his family, who drove down from Washington to search for him after his neighbors informed his family that they hadn’t seen him in several days. Following his disappearance, his neighbors also reported unfamiliar vehicles unloading property from the Redmill residence, the sheriff said, something they felt was suspicious.

With no further leads, the case had initially gone cold, the sheriff told the media today. But the Redmill investigation was reassigned last month when deputies received new intel indicating the possibility that Beery may have been involved in his disappearance. 

The sheriff did not take any further questions from the press, indicating that this was still an open investigation. He said he would not be addressing “rumors and assumptions and accusations” that have been circulating among the public in connection with the case.

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