An alleged physical altercation occurred between “Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch” star Chad Ollinger and his cellmate.

Reality TV star faces a murder charge after the death of his cellmate

An alleged physical altercation occurred between "Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch" star Chad Ollinger and his cellmate.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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December 29, 2025 6:26 p.m. ET

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Chad Ollinger's mugshot. Credit:

Potter County Sheriff's Office

Chad Ollinger, who has appeared on the Discovery Channel's *Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch* for all five of its seasons, has been charged in connection with the death of the man who shared his cell in Las Vegas.

Ollinger is the son of Duane Ollinger, who owns the titular property in Utah. Their TV series documents their search for gold, and the latest season concluded in August.

"On December 26, 2025, at approximately 11:20 p.m., Corrections Officers inside of the Clark County Detention Center were conducting routine checks when they observed a male inmate lying motionless inside of a cell," the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement to **. "Officers made entry and observed the inmate was suffering from apparent blunt force injuries. The other cellmate, who was identified as 41-year-old Chad Ollinger, was taken into custody."

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Ollinger has been jailed since October on contempt of court charges at Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, according to Deadline. Ollinger's deceased cellmate, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was identified as 42-year-old Christopher Kelly.

"Through the course of the investigation, detectives learned a physical altercation occurred between the victim and Ollinger inside of the cell," police continued in the statement. "Ollinger was rebooked for Open Murder."

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The homicide section of the police department is still investigating the case.

Chad Ollinger has been arrested before, for allegedly evading law enforcement while on a motorcycle, *Deadline *reported. The status of his previous charges is unclear.

Fans of the show left comments on social media expressing their concern for Ollinger's family, including his father.

"Prayers for the Ollinger family," one wrote on Facebook.

Chad and Duane Ollinger costar on 'Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch'.

Blind Frog Ranch Outpost & Tours/Facebook

Another added, "I hope the show can continue after this. I'm sure everyone will be affected by this in some way, and so who knows what will happen. Hopefully Chad can claim some kind of self defense with a good attorney. Because this just doesn’t seem like Chad at all to do something like this intentionally."

EW has reached out to the Discovery Channel for comment and to find out how the show will be affected.**

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