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All the talk, residents say, is about allegations that a local sheriff’s deputy might have helped cover up the death of Nathaniel Mueller and the discovery of his body. Mueller, 23, went missing Dec. 21. He was last seen in Quincy, Illinois, but his body was found last month in a pond on his grandmother’s property in rural Pike County, about 90 miles northwest of St. Louis. A cause of death has not been publicly released.

The police chief of Bowling Green has made the allegations, adding that other deputies may have been involved and that the sheriff has failed to respond. Bowling Green is in Pike County but has its own police force, separate from the sheriff’s department.

Ty Bounds, the Bowling Green chief, held a news conference Friday afternoon at the Pike County Courthouse to amplify his allegations. More than 50 people, many coming out of the courthouse and nearby businesses, showed up to listen. Some in attendance said a Post-Dispatch story a day earlier detailing the allegations had drawn plenty of attention, dominating the coffee talk at local shops, the feed store and other businesses.

“People are scared and very nervous right now. It is a very difficult time to be a Pike County resident, but it is the only thing people are talking about,� said Shellie Ligon, who owns a flooring business in Bowling Green.

At his news conference, Bounds said “corruption has no place in law enforcement and cannot be tolerated. Officers must be held accountable for their actions.�

Bounds did not identify the deputy during his news conference, which also featured remarks from Mueller’s family. But he described how officers from his department, while investigating a Jan. 11 robbery in the city, discovered that the sheriff’s deputy had a “close� relationship with one of the suspects.

Three people have been charged with taking a man from his home at gunpoint and forcing him to withdraw money from a bank ATM before dropping him off in a remote area. The three are Emalee Calvin, 18, of Frankford; and Tyrese Beaty, 22, and Landon Washington, 19, both of Louisiana, Missouri.

Bounds claims investigators found text messages between one suspect and the sheriff’s deputy about a separate incident: the disappearance of Mueller. He also claims the deputy, and potentially others, knew for more than a month where Mueller’s body was located.

Bounds said the evidence includes digital data pulled from cellphones belonging to Calvin, Beaty and Washington. That includes call logs, text messages, videos and GPS locations.

“I’ve seen the evidence and it is very large and complete,� said Chris Lozano, an attorney representing Bounds.

The evidence has been turned over to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which has taken over the Mueller investigation.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before in my career,� Lozano said. “I’ve had my suspicions before about bad cops but never so blatant, so provable and so conclusive.�

Bounds also alleges he informed Pike County Sheriff Stephen Korte of the findings and that Korte “took no action to preserve ongoing and future investigations.� And he is worried that deputies might have “an opportunity to contaminate evidence.�

Korte told the Post-Dispatch earlier this week that the Mueller investigation involves “multiple entities.�

“I have no knowledge of who Ty Bounds and my detective have spoken to,� he said.

On Friday, Bowling Green Mayor Jim Arico expressed confidence in Bounds, describing him as a “man of integrity� and “a solid investigator.�

“We are glad that he is our police chief,� Arico said in an interview.

Mueller’s mother, Tammy Mueller, and other family members said they hope the highway patrol investigation is thorough.

Tammy Mueller described her last interaction with her son, who shared a home with her in Hannibal, which is about 40 miles north Bowling Green. She said he was happy, had just finished getting his hair braided and promised to be home soon.

“He never came back home. He never came home to me,� Mueller said. “Something happened to my baby.�