CANYON CITY – Two men have been arrested on murder charges stemming from the 1992 disappearance of a Mitchell man whose body was found four years later near Mt. Vernon in Grant County.

Grant County District Attorney Ryan Joslin said the two men were arrested – one in the Las Vegas area and the other in Roseburg – on charges of aggravated murder and murder. Both were indicted earlier this month by the Grant County grand jury.

Arrested were Thomas Allen Colbert, 51, of Indian Springs, Nev., and George Shadrick Bogan, 46, of Roseburg.

The two are in custody on murder-related charges following the investigation into the 1992 disappearance of a 36-year old Mitchell, Oregon man. Both men were arrested, one near Las Vegas, Nevada and the other in Roseburg, Oregon, for Aggravated Murder and Murder after they were indicted Feb. 7 by a Grant County grand jury.

Oregon State Police (OSP) Criminal Investigations Division detectives spent nearly two years working closely with the Grant County District Attorney’s Office before taking the case to the grand jury.

Two Oregon State Police Criminal Investigations Division detectives traveled to Las Vegas and worked closely with Las Vegas Metro Police Department.

At approximately 9:15 a.m. Feb. 17, Colbert was arrested without incident at his Indian Springs, Nev. home by detectives from the Criminal Apprehension Team/Fugitive force and LVMPD Resident Officers assigned to Indian Springs. Colbert was taken to a Clark County, Nevada facility and is awaiting extradition to Oregon.

OSP detectives from Bend and Roseburg arrested Bogan without incident during a traffic stop near his home about 4:30 p.m. Feb. 21. Troopers transported Bogan to the Douglas County Jail pending transfer to Grant County.

The victim, Danny Kaye Sweet, 36, disappeared in October 1992 from the Mitchell area where he was staying with friends. He was reported missing by friends in early 1993 to the Crook County Sheriff’s Office, initiating a missing person investigation.

On Jan. 21, 1996, two teenagers hunting for horns on a remote area of rangeland near Mt. Vernon discovered skeletal remains, nearly fully intact and clothed. Dental records confirmed the dead man was Sweet, and the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office ruled he was the victim of homicide.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office activated the Major Crime Team to start an investigation. The effort involved personnel and resources from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, Crook County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon Department of Justice, OSP Criminal Investigations Division, OSP Forensic Services Division and an OSP crime analyst. The investigation led to locations in Oregon, Idaho and Nevada.

The ongoing investigation alleges Colbert and Sweet were known drug associates and, shortly before his disappearance, Sweet had accrued drug-related debts to Bogan, then living in Prineville.

Sweet’s remains were found on a Bureau of Land Management land surrounded by private ranch land owned at the time by Colbert’s relatives.