A 27-year-old Michigan man is accused of murdering his parents, who vanished earlier this month only to be found buried in a forest after a frantic search. Nicholas Alexander Johnson faces two counts of open murder as well as three felony weapons charges. His parents, Gary Johnson, 65, and Laura Johnson, 64, were the subjects of massive search efforts that began a week ago after police discovered “signs of violence” at their Portage home when Gary Johnson failed to show up to work. On Friday, cadaver dogs led police to their bodies in a wooded area just a few miles from their home.

“From the first time I heard they were missing—which was on Wednesday the 10th early in the morning—as much as I wanted to believe otherwise, the rational part of me understood it was pretty much leading to something like this,” David Johnson, Gary Johnson’s brother, told MLive. “None of it was unexpected—unwanted, but not unexpected.” The couple had reportedly had struggles with their son since he was a young child, and they had a no-contact order with him following a home invasion in 2019, authorities said. Years before their deaths, Gary Johnson confided to his brother that “If it ever came down to physically having to control Nick he didn’t think he could do it,” MLive reports.