GALLATIN COUNTY, Mont. — Authorities in Montana say a 911 caller discovered his friend dead in a tent in what appeared to have been a fatal bear attack — but officials soon discovered the camper was actually the victim of a brutal murder.
Dustin Kjersem, 35, was found dead in his tent on Saturday morning along Moose Creek Road north of Big Sky, Montana, Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer said at news conference Wednesday. A friend who was supposed to have met Kjersem went searching for him when he didn't show up as scheduled on Friday.
The friend ultimately discovered Kjersem's body in a tent at a makeshift campsite and called 911, telling responders the death appeared to have been caused by a bear attack, the sheriff's office said.
An agent with the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks agency who visited the site, however, found no signs of bear activity, and investigators said they soon found evidence of a "vicious attack," which is being investigated as a homicide.
Kjersem, who was last seen on Thursday afternoon, sustained "multiple chop wounds," including to his skull, an autopsy showed.
"He was brutally killed at his campsite and we need your help," Springer said, adding that his detectives were working "all hours of day and night to find his killer."
No suspects have been identified, and Springer said the remote area of the crime scene, where there is no cellphone service, was making the investigation more difficult than most cases.
"People have asked me if there's a threat to this community and the answer is we don't know. We don't have enough information to know at this time," he said.
The sheriff urged residents to be careful.
"We do know that someone was out there who killed someone in a very heinous way so if you're out in the woods you need to be paying attention, you need to remain vigilant," Springer said.
Kjersem was driving a black 2013 Ford F-150 with a black topper and a silver aluminum ladder rack, and police have asked the public to come forward with any information they might have.
"Think of the whole canyon," Captain Nathan Kamerman said at the news conference. "If you saw something weird in the canyon area, or in town with his truck, please reach out to us."
Kjersem's sister Jillian Price called her brother a skilled tradesman and a loving father.
"I asked our community to please find out who did this," she said. "There is someone in our valley who is capable of truly heinous things."
