Officers say squatter attempts to claim cabin with handwritten note nailed to tree

In a wild story from Pontiac, officers say a man illegally moved into a lakeside vacation cabin, turned it into his own personal dog kennel and attempted to claim ownership of the home with a hand drawn sign nailed to  a tree, which hung beside a homemade mailbox the man installed to make the reported squatter takeover just a little more official.

Brandon Mills, who had just been released from jail on March 21, didn’t waste time getting back on deputies’ radar. According to the probable cause statement, just after noon March 31, Ozark County Deputy Hunter Ryan and Lt. Matt Rhoades responded to a report of a break-in at a small vacation cabin in Pontiac. What they found was equal parts baffling and disturbing.

The initial call

The officers say that the cabin’s rightful owner called the sheriff’s department to report that a neighbor was interested in purchasing his Pontiac vacation cabin, and he’d given the neighbor permission to go look at the place. But, when the neighbor got there, he found the home occupied. He said apparently, someone had moved in. 

The neighbor immediately called the cabin owner, who was shocked. He called the sheriff’s department. The owner said that he doesn’t live at the cabin full time and only uses it for trips to the lake. He said no one else should be using the cabin. 

Handwritten note and a mailbox stuck to a tree

Once on scene, officers spoke with the neighbor, who described the man he saw at the home. That description matched Mills, officers say, who they were already familiar with from past interactions. The officers’ report adds that Mills lives a few houses down from the vacation cabin.

As Lt. Rhoades approached the cabin, he said he noticed a large stack of split firewood piled up in the front yard, which was not there a few weeks before when the officer had been in the area to arrest Mills on an unrelated warrant. 

Rhoades said he was familiar with the property because he had to search around the cabin and in the nearby woods after Mills ran from officers attempting to arrest him on the previous warrant. 

The officers also noticed a new mailbox that was attached to a tree in the front yard with “BRANDn Mills” written in marker on the side. Beside it, a paper note was attached to the tree, which stated, “Adverse Possession Taken!!! You Are under Video Surveillance, No Warning ShotS!!!” 

In addition to the new signage, the cabin’s yard was piled up with things in the front, back and on both sides, the report says. 

Cabin trashed, dogs inside

Rhoades said as he approached the cabin, he noticed the curtains moving. 

The officers knocked on the door, announced their presence and entered the home with their previously obtained permission from the cabin’s owner. 

“Inside, we found three large dogs that appeared to be malnourished. They were very thin, and one of the dogs had open wounds on its face that appeared to be consistent with the injuries sustained in dog fights. There was no water or food available to the dogs inside the residence where they were locked,” Rhoades wrote in his report. “There was a large amount of dog feces throughout the house. The dogs appeared to have destroyed a lot of the house.”

The officer contacted the Humane Society to see if they could respond to investigate animal abuse, and they referred the case to an agent who said he’d call Rhoades the next day. 

The homeowner, understandably unsettled by the squatter-turned-land-baron routine, requested Mills be prosecuted for the bizarre incident, particularly the property damage to his cabin, which included destroyed carpet and walls, as well as the air conditioning unit removed and disassembled. “The condition of the house was indescribable,” Rhoades wrote, referring those reading the report to several photos he took of the damage.

The officers locked the cabin, took down the sign and attempted to contact Mills at his house, a few doors down. Mills did not answer the door, the report says. 

The confrontation

The next day the officers were called back out to the same cabin after it was reported that Mills had returned and put his signs back up. Rhoades said when they arrived, the dogs were in the back yard, and his car was parked out front with the passenger’s door open - but no one was outside. 

Rhoades said he knocked on the door, and Mills’ girlfriend stepped out. He said he asked her about the cabin, and she said they had taken the  cabin over through “adverse possession,” as they were now squatting on the property. 

Although there is a law, RSMo 516.010, that does allow squatters to take possession of a residence in certain situations, Rhoades wrote that the law requires the squatters to be actively inhabiting the structure for 10 years. Since the officer had just arrested Mills on March 17, at which time he wasn’t living in the cabin, Rhoades said he was sure that Mills had not met the legal requirements to obtain the property through adverse possession. He said, in fact, after he was arrested on March 17, he was held in jail until March 21, which means he’d only been living in the cabin about 10 days, not 10 years. 

The girlfriend reportedly acknowledged that the dogs at the cabin were theirs, but she denied that they were without food or water. When she was told they were trespassing and would need to vacate the cabin, she reportedly said they had a lot of items stored on the property and would need time to get it all removed. 

“I informed her that we needed to talk to [Mills], and she informed me that [he] would not be exiting the residence,” Rhoades wrote. “After some back and forth, Brandon decided to cooperate and come out.”

Once Mills exited the residence, he began arguing with the officers, saying they did not have the right to arrest him, the report says. 

“[He said] he read the laws on the subject, and that we had to give him 10 days to ‘get our [expletive] out of there,’ admitting the items that were there were his. He then continued to make spontaneous statements that it was his house and that we let his dogs out,” Rhoades’ report says. 

Despite the argument, Mills was arrested without further incident. But the saga didn’t end there.

Another report

On April 29, the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department dispatch office received a call from a man who said his neighbor saw a subject walking around on his property while he wasn’t there. The man said he works out of town, and his neighbor told him a tan car was in his driveway and a man was walking around his house.

Deputy Ryan called the neighbor, who told the officer that he was driving home that day when he passed the house and saw the car parked in the drive of his neighbor’s home. He said he knew no one was supposed to be there, so when he saw a tall, slim man walking between the house and garage, he called the homeowner to let him know. 

The neighbor said he didn’t want to confront the man without any personal protection, so he went home first. Before he could get inside his own house, he said the man drove by  in the tan car that was parked at the home.

The neighbor said he recognized the man, but he didn’t know his name. He said he knew the man lived in one of the nearby cabins with another man, whose name he gave the officer but is not listed in the court documents. Deputy Ryan said he recognized the other man as Mills’ roommate. 

Deputy Ryan asked the neighbor if he thought he could pick out the man in a six-person lineup. He said he thought he could.

Cabin wrecked

Meanwhile, Lt. Rhoades went to the man’s home and secured it, making sure there were no items stolen.  When they arrived, the back porch screen door was reportedly propped open, and there was a white metal cabinet that was open, as well as the crawl space to the attic. Lt. Rhoades checked the back door, and it wasn’t locked, just pushed closed, court documents say. Officers say upon looking inside, they found several footprints and three deer antlers laying in the floor, along with two baskets of stuff on the counters that appeared to be rummaged through. The back bedroom door was off the door frame from what appeared to be someone unscrewing the door from its hinges and removing it. The drawers to the dresser in the back bedroom were partly open and not closed fully. 

On April 20, Deputy Ryan returned to show the neighbor a six-man lineup which included Mills, along with five other similar looking individuals. The neighbor said he couldn’t be sure which one he saw. 

‘Well, that’s him right there...’

However, as the officer was walking out of the neighbor’s home, a tan car drove by on County Road 609. The neighbor looked up and said, “Well, that’s him right there in the car,” the report says. Deputy Ryan recognized the driver as Mills from previous cases. He jumped in his patrol vehicle and attempted to catch up to him. When he reached the vehicle, it was empty and no one was around it. The deputy said the car was parked at Mill’s home. 

Knowing Mills’ history of resisting and fleeing, Deputy Ryan held position and called for backup, a Facebook post to the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department’s page further explained. A probable cause affidavit and search warrant were submitted and signed. 

A relative intervenes

While deputies waited for the warrant to return, Mills’ relative, Paul Henderson, who also lives in the home, reportedly came out of the house to speak with officers.

Officer reports say Henderson quickly escalated the situation, arguing with Lt. Rhoades in the public roadway and refusing to comply with instructions to remain outside the containment area. Despite multiple warnings, Henderson attempted to return to the home and was informed he would be detained for hindering Mill’s arrest. When Lt. Rhoades tried to detain him, Henderson reportedly resisted and had to be taken to the ground to prevent escape. He was eventually handcuffed and arrested, officers say.

As that was happening, Mills reportedly emerged from the house—only to realize he’d walked directly into a trap. Spotting more deputies rushing toward the scene, officers say he turned and sprinted back into the home. But his escape route was already blocked: Deputy Jeffrey Lane and Deputy Vesa Phelan were stationed at the back door and quickly took him into custody.

Mills was arrested on multiple felony charges, including burglary, trespassing, property damage, animal neglect, resisting arrest and driving while revoked. Paul Henderson was also booked into jail on felony charges of hindering prosecution, resisting arrest, and interfering with an arrest.