Who was Dustin Kjersem?
Dustin Mitchell Kjersem of Belgrade, Gallatin County, Montana, United States has died. He was 36.
Kjersem was born in Bozeman, Gallatin County to Jay Kjersem and Janet Price. Dustin has three older sisters namely Desiree Kjersem, Jillian Kjersem and Erin Kjersem.
When Dustin was young, he and his family moved to Three Forks, Gallatin County. He was a teenager when he moved back to Bozeman to live with Jillian and joined the Big Sky Youth Empowerment Project.
Dustin took a construction class while he was a Bozeman High School student. He later moved to Belgrade.
On November 10, 2023, Dustin turned 36. He and Jessica Kirkland have a daughter named Addy Mae.
Who is Daren Christopher Abbey?
On the afternoon on October 10, 2024, Dustin drove a black 2013 Ford F-250 with a black topper and an aluminum silver ladder rack and left to go camping up Moose Creek in Montana. That was the last time he was seen alive.
In the evening, Dustin arrived in the Moose Creek area for a camping trip and had set up a wall tent with a wood stove, lamps and beds. Also that evening, Daren Christopher Abbey, 41, of Basin, Jefferson County, Montana was also in the area looking for a place to camp and noticed Dustin had already taken the campsite off Moose Creek Road north of Big Sky, Montana.
Abbey and Dustin did not know each other. Dustin welcomed Abbey to the campsite and offered him a beer, according to the latter.
At some point, Abbey used a piece of wood to hit Dustin, a screwdriver to stab him in the neck and an ax to hit him. The victim was supposed to pick up his girlfriend on October 11, 2024 and take her out to the campsite.
At around 10:00 a.m. on October 12, 2024, the girlfriend and a friend went to the campsite and found Dustin dead in a tent at the makeshift campsite. They called 911 and told dispatchers that Dustin’s death appeared to have been caused by a bear.
A Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks agent with expertise in bear attacks responded to the scene and did not find any signs of bear activity at the scene, according to the Gallatin Country Sheriff’s Office. It was a homicide based on evidence gathered through an autopsy.
On October 25, 2024, analysts with the Montana State Crime Lab identified Abbey’s deoxyribonucleic acid was identified on a beer can found inside Dustin’s tent. The Basin man confessed to the killing after investigators zeroed in on him.
On October 26, 2024, Abbey was arrested on a probation violation. He was later charged with deliberate homicide in the killing of Dustin .
CONAN Daily 