‘Yellowstone’ Actor’s Missing Nephew Wanted in Domestic Violence Investigation
Kansas authorities said Tuesday they were hunting for actor Cole Brings Plenty in connection with an alleged domestic violence incident shortly after the 27-year-old’s relatives, including his uncle, Yellowstone star Mo Brings Plenty, announced that he’d gone missing.
The Lawrence Police Department said that investigators had submitted an affidavit to prosecutors for Brings Plenty’s arrest, having identified him as a suspect in a domestic violence investigation. Few details about the incident were immediately released, but the department said in a news release publicizing the search that it had taken place at an apartment in Lawrence on Sunday morning.
“Officers responded to reports of a female screaming for help, but the suspect fled before officers arrived,” police said. “The investigation identified Brings Plenty and traffic cameras showed him leaving the city immediately after the incident.”
Police also said that Brings Plenty’s family had contacted the department, expressed concern for his whereabouts and wellbeing, and reported him as a missing person.
About an hour before the department issued its news release, Mo Brings Plenty, who has appeared in every season of Taylor Sheridan’s hit Western series since its 2018 premiere, said on Instagram that his nephew had vanished.
“#ColeBringsPlenty drives a white Ford Explorer, last seen March 31st leaving the Lawrence area,” he wrote in a caption alongside a missing persons poster, which noted that Brings Plenty had “missed an appointment with his agent for a TV show, which is unusual for him.”
The agent told the New York Post in an interview prior to the police’s announcement that Brings Plenty had had a Zoom audition scheduled for Monday morning. “I had spoken to him Thursday afternoon about the details and he was excited about it,” the agent said. “When Cole didn’t show up on Zoom, I reached out to his manager.”
Joseph Brings Plenty Sr., Cole’s father, also posted about his disappearance on Facebook. “If anyone knows where my son Cole Brings Plenty is please tell him to call me,” he said on Monday. “His family is very worried about him.. Last seen early morning hours on Easter morning.” He ended with a direct appeal to Brings Plenty to “just reach out to me, messaging you on your phone.”
Neither mentioned the criminal investigation, and it was unclear if either man knew the Lawrence Police were seeking Brings Plenty’s arrest. A representative for Mo Brings Plenty did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday evening.
Brings Plenty and his family are enrolled members of the Lakota Nations. As an actor, he has appeared in two episodes of 1923, a Yellowstone spinoff series, as well as other Western projects like The Tall Tales of Jim Bridger and Into the Wild Frontier, according to his IMDb page. He is also studying media at Haskell Indian Nations University, according to The Lawrence Times.
Brings Plenty is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs between 145 and 150 pounds. He has brown eyes and long black hair. Anyone who sees him or his vehicle, a white 2005 Ford Explorer with Kansas plates, is asked to call 911 or the anonymous Crime Stoppers of Lawrence and Douglas County at 785-843-8477.
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