Sheriff’s office investigates ‘heinous’ homicide in Moose Creek area, asks public for information
By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
In an Oct. 16 press conference, Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer asked for the public’s help in gaining more information about the homicide of 35-year-old Belgrade resident Dustin Mitchell Kjersem.
On Saturday morning, Kjersem was found dead inside his tent at a Forest Service camping area near Moose Creek in the Gallatin Canyon.
“This is a homicide and we are working all hours of day and night to find his killer … He was brutally killed at his campsite and we need your help,” Springer said.
Captain Nathan Kamerman provided more facts about Kjersem’s whereabouts and the autopsy report. Kjersem was last seen on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 10 as he was leaving to go camping up Moose Creek. He was driving his black 2013 Ford F-250 with a black topper and an aluminum silver ladder rack.
“He was well prepared for a weekend of camping and had plans to meet with a friend on Friday afternoon. But he never made that meeting,” Kamerman said in the conference. Shortly after 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, he was found deceased in his wall tent. The tent was well-kept, according to the sheriff’s office, and around eight by 10 feet.
An autopsy report showed that Kjersem sustained multiple chop wounds which led to his death. Springer later said that though investigators do not know what the attacker’s weapon was, “we do know that it was something hard enough to cause significant damage to the skull, um, as well as the flat areas of the body.”
Kamerman explained that the sheriff’s office needs anyone present in the area between the evening hours of Oct. 10 and the early morning hours of Oct. 12 to reach out to his team. He asked anyone with a trail or game camera, or car cameras traveling in the Moose Creek area to reach out to the sheriff’s office, even if they feel that their footage is irrelevant.
“And anyone who saw something out of place, out of the ordinary, in the area surrounding Moose Creek—think of the whole canyon. If you saw something weird in the canyon area or in town with this truck, please reach out to us,” Kamerman said.
Kjersem’s sister Jillian Price spoke about her brother during Wednesday’s press conference.
“Dustin was a great kid. He was born here in Bozeman, and he worked all over the valley … He was a hard working, skilled tradesman. He was a loving, helpful, and adoring father who in no way deserved this,” Price said.
“There is someone in our valley that is capable of truly heinous things,” Price added.
At this time, nobody is in custody, Springer said. According to Kamerman, the sheriff’s office has been given multiple leads and are working to close the leads and find what direction they take the investigation.
“People have asked me if there was a threat to this community, and the answer is, we don’t know. We don’t have enough information to know at this time,” Springer said.
“But we do know that someone was out there who killed someone in a very heinous way. So if you’re out in the woods, I need you to be paying attention. You need to remain vigilant,” Springer said. “If you see anything suspicious, please just call us. We will take a look. No information is too small.”
Springer said that the remote area makes this investigation challenging, especially with lack of cell phone service in the Gallatin Canyon. He said that the area where Kjersem camped is not an official campsite, but the area can have a lot of activity from hunters, outfitters and campers.
Anyone with information is encouraged to reach out to the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office at 406-582-2121 during business hours or call 406-582-2100 to reach Gallatin County Dispatch for something that requires more immediate attention.
