KBZK
A father was discovered hacked to death in his tent Saturday morning after he failed to meet up with a buddy for a weekend of camping in Montana, authorities said.
Dustin Mitchell Kjersem, 35, suffered multiple chop wounds, including to his skull, on a makeshift campground in a remote area near Big Sky, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office said.
Kjersem’s killer is still on the loose.
“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” Sheriff Dan Springer said during a Wednesday press conference.
“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.”
Kjersem was last heard from Thursday afternoon as the Belgrade resident traveled to an area with limited cell service, Springer said. It’s unclear when he was actually attacked.
After the friend did not hear from Kjersem, the pal went looking for him and found him dead, the Gallatin top cop said.
The friend initially thought Kjersem was attacked by a bear, but a state fish and wildlife agent determined there were no signs of the animal in the area, authorities said.
An autopsy then deemed the case a homicide.
The victim’s sister said during the press conference Kjersem was a “great kid” who was born in Bozeman and worked as a tradesman across the region.
“He was a loving, helpful and adorning father who in no way deserved this,” Kjersem’s loved one said.
“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.”