In a poignant blend of fiction and reality, Sunday’s episode of the Yellowstone spin-off Marshals includes a memorial scene dedicated to Cole Brings Plenty, the late nephew of cast member Mo Brings Plenty.

The Memorial Scene

Relatives of Monica (Kelsey Asbille) gather at the Broken Rock reservation to honor a deceased character. Attendees include her widower Kayce (Luke Grimes), son Tate (Brecken Merrill), and grandfather (Rudy Ramos). Marshals Belle Skinner (Arielle Kebbel), Miles Kittle (Tatanka Means), Andrea Cruz (Ash Santos), and Pete ‘Cal’ Calvin (Logan Marshall-Green) also join the ceremony.

Arielle Kebbel described the filming as deeply moving. “We filmed the ceremony and Mo Brings Plenty brought his family to it, and it was a way of honoring his nephew,” Kebbel stated. She added, “I will remember that day for as long as I live. It was very emotional. And it was a real reminder that the lines between art and life are very blurred and very powerful.”

Kebbel praised the Brings Plenty family as “such a beautiful community” and plans to wear handmade jewelry from them as a tribute. “It brings me to tears to be part of this community and also to learn more about what happened to Cole and bring that awareness,” she said. “You can never plan for going into it, but [it] has deeply impacted me forever.”

Cole Brings Plenty’s Death

Cole Brings Plenty, who appeared as Pete Plenty Clouds in two episodes of the Paramount+ series 1923, was found dead in a rural Kansas area in April 2024 at age 27. He had been reported missing during a domestic violence investigation where he was named a suspect.

Mo Brings Plenty called his nephew’s unsolved death “heartbreaking,” criticizing the lack of investigative resources. “Cole was my nephew, but he was like a son to me,” he said. “For his murder to go uninvestigated, and for it to be written off as ‘no foul play,’ because they didn’t want to invest anything into it? Because we’re taxpaying people as well. So for them to not work for us, no different than how they work for anyone else is pretty sad.”

Mo Brings Plenty hopes the storyline continues to highlight such issues. “There are a lot of families such as mine that are going through this right now, and we still have a lot of unanswered questions,” he noted. “Because I saw his body, I saw the evidence that is there that someone caught him. So for them to say that there was nothing, I can’t believe that. I still can’t.”

He faulted local authorities for minimal efforts. “The departments didn’t put much effort into it. In fact, they weren’t even really looking for him. They were hunting him,” Mo Brings Plenty said. “They were hunting him until the day when a good friend of mine and I rented a helicopter and told the Lawrence Police Department that we were going to go and search from the air, and that day, they were out in full force.”

Official Responses

The Lawrence Police Department stated they presented a full report to the family with permission, including videos, witness statements, and photographs. “The family chose not to release the facts. Out of compassion, we complied with their wishes,” a spokesperson said.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a thorough investigation and shared findings with the family, but records remain sealed by a court order obtained by the family.

Marshals airs Sundays at 8/7c on CBS.