Missing Recent NAU Graduate Found Dead in Desert, Believed to Have Been Murdered by His Best Friend

GILBERT, AZ (AZ Family) —We have learned that a missing person case in Gilbert has become a high-profile murder of a recent NAU graduate working as a project engineer.

Alijah Bradley, 24, was first reported missing in mid-August.

We now know where and how his remains were found in the desert, and the alleged suspect is his best friend.

This development required a lot of work of discovery, little by little, because some documents of the case were sealed on Thursday.

We now know when Alijah Bradley’s remains were found in the desert near Gila Bend, just days after he went missing.

Alijah Bradley recently celebrated his 24th birthday. A recent NAU graduate and project engineer, he is often seen smiling and happy in photos. That’s how his family remembers him.

They struggle to understand his recent murder, which led to the arrest of a trusted friend Alijah.

“You hear about it on podcasts and stuff, and you never think it would happen to someone you love,” said a close relative of Alijah, who asked not to be named.

She said they reported Alijah missing to the Gilbert Police Department on Aug. 15.

He had missed work and, unusually, his mother had not heard from him either.

They said Alijah’s mother had the Life360 app on her phone and tracked her son’s phone…to a location they knew.

“She logged back in and saw that her last location was Sam’s apartment,” she said. “And then all of a sudden, her phones were off.”

The relative said Samuel Bush, 23, was a childhood friend of Alijah’s, but when confronted about Alijah’s phone ringing there the last time, he told his family he didn’t know where Alijah was.

That’s when Alijah’s family called Toyota to see if they could get his car’s GPS coordinates, which they passed on to police.

“They gave them the coordinates that the car was in the middle of nowhere,” she said.

The desolate desert near Gila Bend was a new lead for police.

That’s where they found not only his car but also the remains of Alijah Bradley on August 19, a few days after he disappeared.

The relative described what he was told about the living conditions, which were far more odious than expected.

“I was told the cause of death was a gunshot to the back and they found him headless,” she said. “And it’s something so cruel and so graphic, it’s almost crazy to think that someone would do that.”

Sam Bush was arrested a day after the discovery, but at that time only for growing and distributing marijuana and mushrooms in his apartment. Then, this Wednesday, he was also charged with second-degree murder and concealing body parts.

As for the motive, Alijah’s family is completely confused.

“Honestly, we don’t know. He was Sam’s best friend. He was Sam’s only friend,” she said.

As they hope to learn more in the coming weeks, they choose to celebrate a life well lived…a life that was just beginning.

“How accomplished he was and how successful he would or could have been,” she said.

Samuel Bush is now being held on $1.5 million cash-only bail — an extremely high bond for a second-degree murder charge.

If you would like to donate to Alijah’s family and funeral expenses, you can do so here.

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