A 911 caller said a camper was killed by a bear. Police say it was murder.

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A 911 caller said a camper was killed by a bear. Police say it was murder.
Dustin Kjersem’s body was discovered by a friend at a remote Montana campsite. The 35-year-old’s injuries were so severe that it looked like a bear attack.

(Image at the link.)
A sign near Big Sky, Mont., warns visitors to beware of bears. (Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez for The Washington Post)

By Rachel Pannett
October 17, 2024 at 1:40 a.m. EDT
Dustin Kjersem

Dustin Kjersem’s body was discovered on Oct. 12 at a remote Montana campsite. The 35-year-old’s injuries were so severe that a 911 caller said it looked like a bear attack.

Police suspect he was murdered.

Kjersem set out for a weekend of camping at a remote Montana forest site late last week. Police say he was last in contact with his family the afternoon of Oct. 10. He was meant to meet a friend on Friday, and when he didn’t show up, his friend started searching for him.

The friend found his body inside a tent at a forest service campsite near Big Sky, in southern Montana, around 10 a.m. Saturday local time. The friend called 911, thinking Kjersem had been killed by a bear.

Bear attacks in the area are not uncommon. In July, a 72-year-old man shot and killed a grizzly bear that attacked him while he was picking huckleberries in a Montana forest.

Local law enforcement officials inspected the campsite, along with an agent from the Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks service who is an expert in bear attacks.
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