KENT, Wash. — After almost five years, police have arrested a suspect in the disappearance and assumed murder of a Kent man.
Austin Leming, 36 years old at the time, was first reported missing to the Puyallup Police Department on December 21, 2021.
Leming ran a construction and landscaping business in the Enumclaw area, and his business partner
Initially, his last known location was reported to be in Puyallup, and police say there were indications he went missing under suspicious circumstances.
As investigators began to trace his last known movements, they were eventually led to an apartment in Kent.
Kent Police Detectives took over the case and continued to canvas for Leming.
According to the Kent Police Department, after “intense investigation,” Kent detectives were able to piece together that Leming was last known to be with the suspect Brian Mares, a now 46-year-old man from Des Moines.
According to charging documents, Mares’ floors had been torn up throughout most of his apartment after Leming was reported missing. It was first noticed when he asked his girlfriend’s dad to come over and “help him.”
He allegedly asked the father to help him clean up the mess, which included a pool of blood on the floor with thawing meat on top of it, according to documents.
The girlfriend’s father later told police that Mares needed bleach and that “all this blood is going to be mixed together, and they won’t know whose is whose,” court documents allege.
The girlfriend’s father went to police with this information on Dec. 21.
Two days later, Valley SWAT and Kent detectives executed a search warrant at Mares’ apartment, where they also saw the torn-up floors.
According to court documents, “blood spatter was found and recovered in every room of the two-bedroom, one-bath apartment.”
DNA testing had confirmed that the blood in the spare room, the living room, and the dining room matched that of Leming.
Mares was questioned during this time.
Several witnesses told investigators that at the time Leming went missing, he was in possession of several thousand fentanyl pills, a large quantity of meth, powder fentanyl, Xanax bars and thousands in cash, according to court documents.
After Leming was missing, witnesses say that Mares came into possession of 5,000 fentanyl pills, cash and a pistol that Leming was known to have, docs allege.
According to court documents, at least four witnesses saw the torn up floor boards and blood, and heard a story from Mares regarding him being robbed.
On Dec. 13, another witness bought 100 fentanyl pills from Mares when they allegedly overheard him tell someone else present how he “cut him [Leming] up.”
An additional witness said they saw Mares cleaning suspected “blood and tissue” from an electric saw in the kitchen sink a few weeks after Leming went missing.
“It has taken investigators this long to build this case and confirm this evidence precisely because of the extraordinary and terrifying lengths the defendant went to in his efforts to destroy evidence that he murdered the victim,” charging documents said.
Kent detectives confirmed they have continued investigating all possible leads over the past four years — writing and serving search warrants, retracing Leming’s steps, and interviewing everyone who knew Leming or his friends — in the hopes of finding new leads, and ideally, Leming.
In February 2025, Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound doubled the reward for any information that would help solve this case, offering $21,000.
Then, in the early morning hours of November 17, 2025, Valley SWAT and Kent detectives surrounded a Des Moines residence to arrest Brian Mares. Valley Hostage Negotiators contacted him via phone, and he was reportedly taken into custody without incident.
He has been charged with second-degree murder.
Mares has previously been convicted for felony violations of a no-contact order, third-degree assault, and tampering with a witness (domestic violence).
Bail has been set at $5 million.
Leming’s remains have still not been found.
Kent police ask that if you have any knowledge about this case or Austin’s whereabouts, please contact the Kent Police Tip Line at 253-856-5808, KPDTipLine@kentwa.gov, or CrimeStoppers Tip Line 1-800-222-8477. If your tip is urgent, please call 911.
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