Nappanee police help craft vendors recover goods at deserted Amish Acres

NAPPANEE, Ind. -- A controversy surrounding Amish Acres in Nappanee, Indiana, continues to unfold following allegations of shady dealings and criminal activity against owner Brad Juneau.

On Wednesday morning, the Nappanee Police Department stepped in to assist craft vendors who say their merchandise has been locked inside the property for months, while authorities report there is no sign of Juneau anywhere on scene.

According to a post on the Amish Acres Facebook group from about a month ago, a Fall Fest was scheduled to take place this week. However, the grounds remained completely deserted.

Inside the Craft Barn, police confirmed that inventory belonging to multiple local crafters remains locked away.

“They ended up having a couple craft shows during the summer, but I never got any money for the things that they did sell during the craft show. And I know for a fact they did sell some.” said vendor Barb Dean-Davis who retrieved her inventory this morning.

She’s one of multiple vendors who tell ABC57 they’ve had trouble reaching owner Brad Juneau to settle up the situation.

“I had been messaging him on Facebook, email, and then at some point I had a phone number for this man from April, and I called and it was like disconnected. Never went through or anything.” said Dean-Davis, “So then last week, I thought, ‘I'm going to call it again.’ I called it and it went to his voicemail. I left a voicemail. Never heard anything back. So, I was calling every day, emailing every day. Nothing”.

Nappanee Police Detective Nik Havert was on scene today helping vendors collect their property. He says the investigation into Juneau’s dealings is ongoing. One thing they don’t know is exactly where Juneau is right now.

“No one’s seen him at the property for quite a while, and, you know, we’ve heard he’s at a couple different places. We’ve heard he went to visit family for vacation, take a break, you know, get away from the stress for a while.” said Detective Nik Havert of the Nappanee Police, “So hard to say where he is and when he’s coming back. He’s told me he plans to come back, but I don’t have a time frame”.

For vendors, the lack of answers is becoming unbearable.

“It is frustrating. I just hope this whole thing gets settled. This guy gets caught. Whatever charges he may have against him, justice will be brought again. What goes around comes around,” said Dean-Davis.

So, where does the investigation go from here?

“The next step is I’m still waiting on a couple subpoenas, just to double-check financial information, find out if anything is more civil rather than criminal. There are no charges that have been filed with the prosecutor’s office yet,’ said detective Havert.

ABC57 talked to Brad Juneau on the phone today. He claims he’s on the property at least a couple times a week and has an employee managing the property. When asked about police assisting the vendors today, he hung up the phone.