Dustin Kjersem’s battered body was discovered October 12 in a tent near Big Sky, Montana. A 911 caller said it looked like a bear attack. But police now suspect Kjersem was murdered.

A Montana camper believed to be mauled by a bear turned out to be a victim of a brutal homicide, authorities said Wednesday. Dustin Kjersem, 35, of Belgrade, about an hour-and-half drive southeast of Helena, went camping northeast of Big Sky on October 10, Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer said at a news conference Wednesday.

Dustin Kjersem sustained "multiple chop wounds," including to his skull, an autopsy revealed. His killer has not been found.

A man’s death that was previously reported as a bear attack is now being investigated by Montana authorities as a homicide. On Oct. 12, the body of 35-year-old Dustin Kjersem, of Belgrade, was discovered inside a tent in the wilderness north of Big Sky in Gallatin County.