Sheriff: Montana Man Reported Killed by Bear Actually Died by Homicide

 “An autopsy found Kjersem suffered ‘multiple chop wounds,’ including to his skull, that led to his death, according to investigators,” the report said.

East Idaho News reported on Friday that Kjersem left to go camping at the remote site in his black Ford F-150.

In a social media post on Tuesday, the sheriff’s office detailed the case and said authorities are investigating:

A Montana FWP agent with expertise in bear attacks responded and did not find any signs of bear activity at the scene. This prompted investigators to treat the case as a homicide. Evidence gathered through an autopsy further indicated that this was a homicide.

This incident was a vicious attack, and detectives are working hard to develop and track down leads. A suspect has not been arrested at this time. If you or someone you know was in the area within the past week, and made any observations, please contact the Sheriff’s Office. Also, anyone with game or trail cameras in the area is asked to contact the GCSO Detectives Division at 406-582-2121 or by email at detectives@gallatin.mt.gov.

“This weekend, we lost our brother, our son, our uncle, our best friend, and our dad in the most unimaginable way,” his older sister said during a press conference, according to KREM.

She added that her brother was a talented and “hard-working, skilled tradesman.”