Montana

Montana man reported to be killed in bear attack died by homicide in ‘a vicious attack’

Published

1 year ago

October 17, 2024

Montana man reported to be killed in bear attack died by homicide in ‘a vicious attack’

A man was found dead in a tent in Montana in a case of apparent homicide and not a bear attack as initially reported.

Shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday, a caller reported “discovering a deceased male in a tent” approximately 2.5 miles up Moose Creek Road, north of Big Sky about 150 miles west of Billings, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Tuesday.

“The caller indicated that the death may have been caused by a bear attack,” the news release said.

Multiple agencies, including the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and U.S. Forest Service responded to the incident. However, an FWP officer with expertise in bear attacks “did not find any signs of bear activity at the scene,” the news release said, prompting investigators to “treat the case as a homicide.”

The victim was identified as Dustin Mitchell Kjersem, 35, of Belgrade, Montana.

Further evidence, including an autopsy indicated the incident to be a homicide, authorities said. Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer, at a news conference Wednesday, said the autopsy showed the victim sustained “multiple chop wounds,” including to his skull. While authorities do not have an exact idea of the weapon used, Springer said it was “hard enough to cause significant damage to the “skull as well as some flesh areas.”

“This incident was a vicious attack, and detectives are working hard to develop and track down leads,” the news release said.

Victim last seen two days before

Kjersem was found dead by his friend in a tent at a makeshift campsite, after he went searching for Kjersem when he didn’t show up as per their plan on Friday, Springer said at the news conference. The friend was the one who called and alerted 911, telling responders the death appeared to have been caused by a bear attack, Springer said.

Kjersem was last seen in the afternoon on Oct. 10, authorities said, and was driving a black 2013 Ford F-150 with a black topper and a silver aluminum ladder rack. Detective Nate Kamerman said Kjersem was in contact with people Thursday afternoon as he drove up to the campsite, where service is limited, adding he was missing between Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning.

Kamerman said Kjersem’s tent was well-kept and had “lots of equipment” in it, indicating he had planned to spend the weekend with his friend there and had set it all up.

‘A skilled tradesman and a loving father’

Speaking at the press conference, Kjersem’s sister Jillian Price requested the community to step forward and help determine her brother’s killer. Price said Kjersem, who was born in Bozeman and worked all over the Gallatin Valley, was a skilled tradesman and a loving father.

“I asked our community to please find out who did this,” Price said. “There is someone in our valley who is capable of truly heinous things.”

Authorities seek public assistance

No suspects have been identified or arrested and Springer said the remote location of the crime scene made the investigation more challenging than most cases.

Authorities have requested anyone with information on the case or with game or trail cameras in the area to “please come forward” and contact the sheriff’s office at 406-582-2121 or via email at detectives@gallatin.mt.gov.

“Even the smallest detail could be crucial to the investigation,” the sheriff’s office said Wednesday. “Your assistance is invaluable, and all information is greatly appreciated.”

The sheriff’s office also warned residents and visitors to remain vigilant in they are out in the woods and alert authorities immediately if they observe any suspicious activity.

“People have asked me if there’s a threat to this community and the answer is we don’t know,” he said. “We don’t have enough information to know at this time, but we do know that someone was out there who killed someone in a very heinous way.”

“No information is too small,” Springer said. “If there’s something, please call us.”

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

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Montana

Live Updates: Montana State leads SFA 7-0 in the first quarter

Published

4 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Live Updates: Montana State leads SFA 7-0 in the first quarter

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Montana

Frigid Friday – several inches of snow in parts of the area

Published

16 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Frigid Friday – several inches of snow in parts of the area

A band of moderate snow has formed from the Cut Bank area, extending southeast across Chouteau, Fergus, and Judith Basin Counties. Be alert for low visibility and slick road conditions. Icy conditions continue in Lewis & Clark and Broadwater counties, where snow fell on top of ice after some freezing rain overnight. Up to a 1/4″ of ice has been reported on cars and sidewalks. Freezing rain may mix in again this morning as milder air begins to move back in.

Today’s Forecast:

Frigid Friday, several inches of snowfall in parts of the area-Friday, December 12

It will be a frigid today, with high temperatures in the 0s and lower 10s across central and eastern Montana, and mid to upper 30s in Helena.

The snow band will continue throughout the day, bringing several inches of snow to areas east of I-15. The band of snow will gradually push east tonight, impacting Blaine, Phillips, and Valley counties overnight. Snow showers taper off by Saturday morning.

MTN News

Expect difficult driving conditions through Saturday morning, especially east of I-15 and into the mountains.

Arctic air slowly retreats north on Saturday. Temperatures start off in the -10s to near 0 on the Hi-Line and in the 0s for central Montana, then climb to the 0s and 10s for the Hi-Line and 10s to 20s in central Montana by Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, it will be a pleasant weekend in Helena with temperatures in the low 40s. A gusty breeze develops on Sunday, as temperatures warm nicely into the low to mid 40s in central Montana and into the 30s in northeast Montana.

Looking ahead to next week, mild and windy conditions kick off the workweek, followed by active weather returning midweek.

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Montana

Atmospheric river drives flooding in northwest Montana

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Atmospheric river drives flooding in northwest Montana

Warm temperatures and an “atmospheric river” of precipitation that flowed into northwestern Montana this week have generated a state of emergency in Montana’s northwesternmost county, Lincoln, as local waterways run unseasonably high.

Around 12 p.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service started issuing flooding watches as area snowpack sites reported 24-hour precipitation totals that were approaching record levels. NWS meteorologist Dan Borsum told Montana Free Press Thursday that the “rain-on-snow” nature of the recent precipitation has led to widespread flooding.

Borsum called the weather pattern “unusual” for mid-December, instead likening it to a warm April.

Zach Sherbo, the public health manager for the Lincoln County Health Department, said in a Thursday afternoon phone call that additional precipitation is expected through Thursday evening, so rivers could continue rising into Friday.

The Lincoln County communities of Libby and Troy have been hit the hardest by the deluge, which prompted emergency services personnel to issue a state of emergency Thursday afternoon. Residents are cautioned against unnecessary travel and those served by the Libby city water supply are under a boil-water order as a precaution in the event of water supply contamination. School has also been canceled for students in Libby and Troy, Sherbo said.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department has identified a handful of bridges that have been compromised or are washed out as a result of flooding. It suggests residents looking for information on road closures and bridge conditions review an interactive map that is available online and linked in a press release posted to the Lincoln County Health Department’s Facebook page.

“It’s going to take a long time to recoup from this, just structurally, just with the bridges we’ve lost already and the condition that they’re in and going toward,” Sherbo said. “It’s a pretty big combined local effort right now.”

Justun Juelfs, the Kalispell-area maintenance chief with the Montana Department of Transportation said three stretches of state-managed roadways were closed or under monitoring status as of 4 p.m. Thursday.

An approximately 80-foot section of the Farm to Market Road south of Libby has washed out as Libby Creek carved a new channel. MDT is also monitoring erosion that is occurring along a U.S. Highway 2 bridge southeast of Libby and along a section of Highway 56 near Bull Lake. Juelfs encouraged motorists to review MDT’s road conditions report for up-to-date information on impacts to state highways.

The Army Corps of Engineers is assisting with sandbag-filling and distributing efforts and the Red Cross has set up a shelter for those in need at the Assembly of God Church in Libby, according to Sherbo.

The Montana Disaster and Emergency Services agency is also lending a hand with the flood response. In an email to MTFP, Anette Ordahl with DES wrote that a district field officer and a recovery coordinator are on the ground in Libby to offer assistance.

In a Thursday afternoon press release, Gov. Greg Gianforte noted that Sanders and Flathead counties have also recognized the flooding by issuing emergency or disaster declarations. Up to four inches of additional rainfall are expected across western and south-central Montana, according to a disaster declaration Gianforte’s office included in a 3 p.m. press release.

The National Weather Service reported Thursday morning that the Bear Mountain snowpack monitoring site, located just across the border in Idaho, received 6.5 inches of precipitation as of this morning, making it the third-wettest 24-hour period for the site in its 44-year monitoring history. The six-day precipitation total for Dec. 6-11 is 13 inches.

Borsum, with the National Weather Service, said the recent, unseasonable warm spell in western Montana combined with the “super strong” atmospheric river to melt early season snowpack and drive flooding. A similar rain-on-snow event in early June of 2022 led to widespread flooding in parts of south-central Montana that required extensive repairs to roadways and bridges.

Thursday, the Yaak River near Troy surpassed its official flood stage, running at more than 7,500 cubic feet per second. Its usual volume for this time of the year is about 200 cfs.

The Fisher River near Libby was also nearing flood stage. As of Thursday afternoon, it was running at nearly 4,000 cfs, more than 20 times its usual volume for mid-December.

Zeke Lloyd and Jacob Olness contributed to this reporting.

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