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.
This is not far from Yellowstone so there will be grizzlies in that area. I could absolutely see someone finding this scene and getting panicked and running to find a cell signal instead of performing forensic analysis of the scene. But yeah the cops weren’t the ones saying it was a bear, they got it at least.