Cass County Sheriff Tom Burch reports that on Monday, June 7, at 3:20 p.m., the sheriff’s office received a report that a survey crew had located human remains in a heavily wooded area of Blind Lake Township in rural Cass County.
Deputies arrived on scene and learned that possible human remains were located in a swampy and heavily wooded area. The remains were collected and transported to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office for examination. On Wednesday, June 16, the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office reported that the remains were positively identified as those belonging to David Rickbeil, age 62, of Ham Lake.
On July 13, 2018, Rickbeil’s vehicle was located running, unoccupied in the area. Over the next several days a missing person’s investigation was launched and extensive searches of the area were conducted by foot, ATV, drone, air support and with the assistance of K9s. The area is very rural, thickly wooded and swampy. The investigation did not indicate any foul play was involved and that Rickbeil likely walked away from his vehicle.
