Found Deceased MT - Katelynn Berry, 26, last seen @ home, suspicious, Sidney, 21 Dec 2021 *Reward*

[Mastashake]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a search team organizer ask that family and friends refrain from volunteering due to the potential for stress, fear, and anxiety before — I wonder what that might mean?

A body is expected... obviously

 

[mickey2942]

Odd, no dogs. This alone would count me out. If I am going out, my dog is going with me. Otherwise, forget it.

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

Public search for missing Katelynn Berry in Sidney announced

“At this time, we’ve had some warmer weather. We have most of the snow cleared, so we’re taking advantage of this break in weather that we’ve had recently,” said Mike Kraft, Sidney police chief.

“There’s no evidence to indicate that we’re going to locate her, but I want to be sure that she had not succumbed to the elements of bad weather. If she’s out here, we can find her. That’s my hope,” said John Dynneson, Richland County sheriff.

It seems that there is a small window here, not any new developments, and it will be months of no searching after that. Volunteers need to be on foot to look for smaller items, not just a body, which may be partly concealed. I would expect that they can't bring their own equipment or use their own search method. Not saying there isn't at times, a use for this type of search, where volunteers do bring animals, drones, atvs, etc.

 

[Apollo]

The Chief of Police of Sidney just gave an interview, about an hour ago, on News Radio Live with Tom Simon.

When asked about the search area they have picked out, and why that area, for tomorrow, he said he didn't want to give out any information about it at this time. He said they need to be very careful about disclosing information.

He said LE agencies from MT and ND are going to be participating and civilian groups will be paired with LE. He's hoping for 120-150 people total (LE and civilians). Since she lived a mile out of the city limits, this is under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff's Dept.

Obviously they have information.

 

[Teche]

Odd. Maybe there is a reason why they waited this long? If my daughter had not been home for Christmas, we would have been very upset, and definitely reported her missing. That is a pretty important holiday to not be home for...

Sidney isn't the safe, small town it used to be...that is for sure.

I thought the same. Parents lived close to her.

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

The Chief of Police of Sidney just gave an interview, about an hour ago, on New Radio Live with Tom Simon.

When asked about the search area they have picked out, and why that area, for tomorrow, he said he didn't want to give out any information about it at this time. He said they need to be very careful about disclosing information.

He said LE agencies from MT and ND are going to be participating and civilian groups will be paired with LE. He's hoping for 120-150 people total (LE and civilians). Since she lived a mile out of the city limits, this is under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff's Dept.

Obviously they have information.

Sounds like a grid search, with lots of extra eyes to cover an area, but no chance of a civilian recovering anything on their own. If they disclosed anything, somebody is going to go there right away and begin their own search (but not anyone on Webslueths).

 

[Deleted member 300639]

There is no way they want the family searching with them, but i can almost guarantee that this family has conducted their own searches. What i pray for is closure. We all just want her home. This is the cruelty of the perp, if there is one! Does anyone know if a GoFundMe has been setup to support the family in their time of need? My god, just someone speak… you know you saw something, just speak. Every single day i refocus to my own young adults and put myself in her parents shoes and try to spend time asking what makes sense. What was her actual state of mind, i keep coming back to that. If she is with someone just taking some time away this absence is perfectly legal, as an adult she is allowed to make decisions on her life. She might have just shutdown for a while, quieted all the voices speaking, and is running on Katelynn time. She might actually have no idea we are all wondering and worrying about her.

 

[Deleted member 300639]

The cell phone on the couch… did it blend in? Was it half hidden in a cushion? Could it have been placed there after the 21st. When the phone was located had the location data been cleared? So the CBD package was placed on the couch on the 23rd and the phone was searched for on the 26th and actually found on the couch on the 30th? Perhaps the phone was not on the couch until the 30th, so where had it been before, could someone have went in a placed it on the couch? Did no one have security cameras or ring doorbells in the industrial area she was living? Who are neighbors/tenants whose cars where in the video with the father? This is a giant country and someone can be hidden in plain sight. Continue to pray for this family, i cannot even imagine….

 

[Deleted member 300639]

I thought the same. Parents lived close to her.

You wait because she is a young adult with friends and is allowed to make decisions for herself. The parents have said she suffers from mental health issues, perhaps Christmas was no big deal to her. I agree that this is how most of us would feel but young adults don't deal with things like we do and sometimes it is better to let them alone until they work through something. The dad said he was worried all Christmas Day, if he could have forced her to come he probably would have but when our young adults are working through things they sometimes need more time. As many parents of young adults will tell you it is a tough road to allow them freedom even when you feel like protecting them from everything. These parents worry every time a day goes by and the phone or text is not answered they grow accustomed to losing sleep and doing drive-by’s, it is what parents worried about their young adults do.

 

[Deleted member 300639]

Sounds like a grid search, with lots of extra eyes to cover an area, but no chance of a civilian recovering anything on their own. If they disclosed anything, somebody is going to go there right away and begin their own search (but not anyone on Webslueths).

Reading between the lines they have someone they believe may have information and that might be where that someone went or was spotted. They might even have served a search warrant for someone else’s cell phone and where that phone had been in that time frame. They might also be trying to clear someone who gave them information. The parents might also have given them a location she was known to frequent, but i feel sure they would have already searched that area when they realized she might actually be missing. Does anyone know
the location they searched?

 

[mickey2942]

I don't know, but it is brutally cold with windchill, snow cover. I don't see much hope of anything being found now. Maybe in the spring. JMO.

1- -8. Today

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

Did no one have security cameras or ring doorbells in the industrial area she was living? Who are neighbors/tenants whose cars where in the video

If you haven't already, look at the satellite view of the location of the Town Pump in Sidney, follow the power lines that run along the edge of the shop building, as seen in the father's video/interview. I didn't find a more recent view that would show the actual Town Pump buildings, the fences, the extending addition on the shop, and the stairs leading to the apartment. If Katelynn was using the back gate and, not driving, it could be that no one on the same street ever saw her comings and goings.
The father said that one neighbor had some video that didn't show anything. He did not say there was a tenant in the other apartment and it seemed to me that the reporter may have known that as he did not ask about a tenant when he commented that there was a "lower apartment". He also didn't ask if the cars were a tenants', he only asked if any car was Katelynn's. Since the father drives and works on modified dirt track racing cars, I would expect there to be lots of vehicles around his shop.

 

[Deleted member 300639]

If you haven't already, look at the satellite view of the location of the Town Pump in Sidney, follow the power lines that run along the edge of the shop building, as seen in the father's video/interview. I didn't find a more recent view that would show the actual Town Pump buildings, the fences, the extending addition on the shop, and the stairs leading to the apartment. If Katelynn was using the back gate and, not driving, it could be that no one on the same street ever saw her comings and goings.
The father said that one neighbor had some video that didn't show anything. He did not say there was a tenant in the other apartment and it seemed to me that the reporter may have known that as he did not ask about a tenant when he commented that there was a "lower apartment". He also didn't ask if the cars were a tenants', he only asked if any car was Katelynn's. Since the father drives and works on modified dirt track racing cars, I would expect there to be lots of vehicles around his shop.

Those vehicles that were there did not look like anything a race car would need, I wonder if she did drive but perhaps had the car taken for some reason? A drone footage video of the property would be really helpful to keyboard sleuths. I am not making light but maybe someone will see or come up with something that could be considered useful.

 

[OrangeCash]

Richland County Sheriff's Office reports missing Montana woman (kxnet.com)

• She doesn’t have a vehicle and is known to walk away from her residence.

Katelynn Berry Missing: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com
Berry’s mother, Mattison, told Inforum.com that Berry may have “walked a couple blocks to the nearby truck stop in Sidney” as she has done before.
...
He noted that she is on medication that she needs to take and doesn’t have a car.

I wonder if she did drive but perhaps had the car taken for some reason?

It's been mentioned many times that Katelynn walks everywhere, doesn't drive and doesn't own a car

Edited- I just re-read your post, do you mean she might have driven previously, so she knows how to drive, and could have taken a car?

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

Those vehicles that were there did not look like anything a race car would need, I wonder if she did drive but perhaps had the car taken for some reason? A drone footage video of the property would be really helpful to keyboard sleuths. I am not making light but maybe someone will see or come up with something that could be considered useful.

I should have worded it like this, modified cars, which are used for racing on a dirt track. Not what some people would think of as a "race car".
Katelynn's father said she had not driven for months, no more explanation than that.

 

[Beans]

It's been mentioned many times that Katelynn walks everywhere, doesn't drive and doesn't own a car

Edited- I just re-read your post, do you mean she might have driven previously, so she knows how to drive, and could have taken a car?

Her Instagram is full of pics of her in cars. Doesn’t mean she’s necessarily driving them but all the same…

Login • Instagram

And does this photo show a car key? May not be hers, of course.

Login • Instagram

 

[PommyMommy]

JAN 19, 2022
Law enforcement organizing large-scale search for missing woman with Grand Forks ties - Grand Forks Herald
[...]

About 40-50 police and sheriffs deputies in eastern Montana and western North Dakota plan to search an undisclosed area around Sidney, Montana, for Katelynn Berry, a 26-year old woman who has split her time between there and Grand Forks. They’re also hoping to recruit at least another 100 volunteers to aid in the search.

Organizers said a break in the weather around Sidney gave them a chance to conduct the search.

“Quite a bit of our snowfall has melted off,” Mark Kraft, Sidney’s chief of police, told the Herald on Wednesday, Jan. 19.

John Dynneson, the sheriff of Richland County, said investigators have been trying to locate people who were in contact with Berry before she was reported missing on New Year's Eve. Sidney is the county seat. Dynneson declined to say whether the mass search was related to any of those interviews.

[...]

JAN 18, 2022
Public search for missing Katelynn Berry in Sidney announced (kfyrtv.com)
Katelynn’s father, Hank Berry was notified that a search would be conducted prior to the announcement. He said he understood what this search could mean.

“We’re not going door-to-door trying to look at people’s basements for her. This is going to be an outdoor search of trying to find her body, which is not what I would hope for,” said Berry.

 

[CptCari]

It snowed again, but tomorrow the temp will increase and hopefully reveal any clues to this mystery.

 

[Deleted member 272036]

Katelynn's disappearance bothers me. A lot. Pretty young girl, lots of independence, issues like a lot of people have.

Questions have been asked about boots, a phone, a jacket. Many people have more than one of those things. I do....

This has been mentioned. That she had addiction issues. I'm not judging. I am in recovery. I get how the day-to-day issues affect perspective.

To me, whatever it was that Katelynn was experiencing may have seemed OK to her. Maybe she had a burner phone and left her normal phone at home. Maybe she had more boots or shoes. Maybe she thought she was OK with someone who proved to be dangerous. None of this excuses any harm that cones. None.

I'm speculating and that might be OK or not. I want her to be safe

 

[j_in_c]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a search team organizer ask that family and friends refrain from volunteering due to the potential for stress, fear, and anxiety before — I wonder what that might mean?

I'm late to reply here but I have volunteered in SAR and I would not read into this. Just as we are seeing an increased awareness of mental health in sports, work, school, etc and with the pandemic- this is spilling over into SAR and there is more attention given and emphasis on making sure people are putting their mental health first. The request for foot only could mean it is a limited search region and it could also help reduce liability with having untrained searchers out in the field.

I also don't think there is any particular tip leading to this search as much as it is trying to rule things out and take advantage of a weather opportunity. It is great they are doing this sooner rather than looking back and wishing someone had ground searched earlier or asking "why didn't they".