KANSAS, OK – On May 15, 2014, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office requested the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to investigate the suspicious disappearance of 20-year-old Dustin Ray Carver.
Earlier that year, deputies received a missing persons report regarding Carver, who was last seen at a residence in Kansas, Oklahoma. OSBI special agents gathered information and served a search warrant at a property in Kansas.
The OSBI, Delaware County deputies, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner searched the property and discovered a burn pile, where human remains were located. Those remains were transported and processed by the Medical Examiner’s Office.
In July of 2025, the Clinton County Missouri Sheriff’s Office contacted the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office with new leads regarding Carver’s case. Information was gathered from an inmate in the Clinton County Jail, identified as 42-year-old James Merritt Larson Jr.
OSBI special agents determined that based on this information, Larson Jr. and 40-year-old Penny Larson were responsible for Carver’s death.
On September 12, 2025, the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office issued arrest warrants for both suspects. Penny Larson was located and arrested on September 17. She was booked into the Clinton County Missouri Jail. James Larson was already in custody through the Missouri Department of Corrections on unrelated charges. Both suspects were officially charged with First-Degree Murder through the Delaware County District Court.
The OSBI appreciates the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, Oklahoma, Clinton County Missouri Sheriff’s Office, Cameron Police and Emergency Management, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for their continued assistance with this investigation.
42-year-old James Merritt Larson Jr. 40-year-old Penny Larson
