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Kaysera left for Hardin, Montana, to attend Crow Fair
Kaysera left for Hardin, Montana, to attend Crow Fair. Kaysera is enrolled Crow and she has family there, whom she was staying with during the gathering. -
Kaysera Turns 18
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Kaysera returned to Yolanda's home to get some more clothes
Kaysera returned to Yolanda's home to get some more clothes. She was staying through Monday, August 21, which is a big day for the Crow Tribe because they have their feast that day. -
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Kaysera films and posts a video to social media of her 15-year-old brother being physically assaulted by law enforcement at Crow Fair
The officers beating the minor in a wheelchair included Big Horn County Deputies. There is reason to believe that one of the Big Horn County Sheriff's deputies under investigation for the scene filmed by Kaysera was a responding officer when her body was discovered. -
Kaysera text messaged Yolanda and asked to stay with her aunt Percelia Bulltai
Kaysera text messaged Yolanda and asked to stay with her aunt Percelia Bulltail, her biological mother’s sister, to wait for her mother, Geralyn Bulltail, who would be fully released from the Department of Corrections on August 25. Kaysera and her mother had planned a trip to North Dakota to visit relatives -
Yolanda texted with Kaysera in the morning
Yolanda and Kaysera texted in the morning because Yolanda had missed Kaysera's call. Later, Kaysera's probation officer told Yolanda that Kaysera was seen in the roof of her High School. Yolanda asked Kaysear what was she doing there, and at around 3 pm Kaysera texted back that she was watching the sunrise. That was the last text message Yolanda received from Kaysera. -
Kaysera is seen by her family for the last time
Kaysera went missing in a suburban neighborhood in Hardin, Montana, less than a half mile off the Crow Reservation.
Kaysera was at her Auntie Percelia’s house. She and her cousin, Nikita were getting ready to meet some of their friends. Her aunt is the last adult family member to have talked to her. After Kaysera and her cousin left, Ronald (Percelia's son) chased after them and caught them about a block down. He told them to be careful and to be home before midnight. -
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Potential time of Kaysera's death
Coroner Terry Bullis pronounced the death at 19:30 hours on August 29, 2019; however, due to the condition of the body, Coroner Terry Bullis estimated the time of death at least several days prior to the discovery of the body–according to the Big Horn Coroner Report. -
Kaysera’s aunt attempts to file a missing person report
Kaysera’s aunt, attempts to file a missing person report with Bighorn County Police, but was told there was a waiting period before a report could be made. -
Kaysera was supposed to meet her mother, but her mother didn’t show up
Kaysera was supposed to meet her mother, but her mother didn’t show up. I thought she was upset that her mother did not arrive on the 25th like originally planned. Her mother arrived on the morning of August 26 because she had missed her bus. Yolanda thought Kaysera was just mad at her mom because her mom was intoxicated when she arrived. Yolanda thought Kaysera would go home when she stopped being mad. -
Autopsy?
Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula initially said the autopsy was conducted on August 27, 2019, but Kaysera’s body was reportedly found on August 29, 2019. -
Kaysera's body was found
Kaysera’s body is found but is not yet identified to the family. It should be noted that: "Kaysera's body was discovered at the corner of Mitchell Ave. & Rangeview Dr. on August 29, by a resident of the neighborhood, when he went for his daily jog. He told law enforcement that had her body been there for five days straight, he would have noticed her before August 29." This is from the Letter to the FBI. -
Autopsy "official version"
As of December 23, 2019, there has been clarification by Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula that the autopsy was conducted on August 30, 2019. -
Kaysera’s grandmother, is notified by Percelia that the body found on August 29, 2019 was that of Kaysera.
Yolanda Fraser, Kaysera’s grandmother and legal guardian, is notified by Percelia that the body found on August 29, 2019 was that of Kaysera. Kaysera’s family was never officially notified that she had been found. Kaysera’s family continued to search for her and kept hope that she would return to them safely while local authorities had already found her. -
Yolanda and Kaysera’s family attempt to visit the site where Kaysera’s body was found
Yolanda and Kaysera’s family attempt to visit the site where Kaysera’s body was found but could not find the site because there was no crime scene tape or demarcation of where the body had been found. -
Yolanda and 12 relatives go back where the body was found
They visited relatives who lived close to where the body was found. We met with the owner of the land (Steve Schaff) where Kaysera was found, and he granted the relatives permission to do a ceremony. At the ceremony Yolanda speaks with Jason Cummings, the man who found Kaysera’s body, and was told that he watched the police remove Kaysera’s phone from her pocket and her told them to charge it so they could find her family. -
Yolanda goes to Bullis Mortuary
Yolanda goes to Bullis Mortuary, the funeral home of Big Horn Country Corner Terry Bullis, for Kaysera’s visitation, but her remains were not there. Yolanda and her son, Kaysera’s biological father, were not approached by Bullis regarding the arrangements or decision to cremate Kaysera despite Yolanda being Kaysera’s legal guardian. Geralyn Bulltail, Kaysera’s mother, was advised by Bullis to have Kaysera’s remains cremated. Kaysera’s mother went with the coroner’s recommendation. -
Kaysera’s memorial service
After Kaysera’s memorial service, Bullis told the family that the autopsy report would be another 3 to 4 weeks and then proceeded to tell them that when the toxicology report arrives it will “show there was drug or alcohol use detected that the cause would be exposure to alcohol or substance.” He also informed the family that Kaysera’s death certificate would be pending until the report is received. -
Expected arrival Kaysera's cremated remains
On September 16, Grace Bullhorn and family, "waited past the funeral home closing time until the staff had told us the remains had arrived." Staff had told conflicting information to several family members about whether or not Kaysera's remains had truly arrived. They did not arrive that day. -
Kaysera's Burial
Kayera's family held a memorial service for her, followed by a burial on September 18, 2019. They decided to go to the burial that day so guests at the funeral could attend. The cemetery is in Pryor at the other end of the reservation, approximately an hour away from Hardin. Grace Bullhorn says, "We did not want to have to deal with Terry Bullis and his staff for another day. We did not want to ask them to store the flowers or other items guests had
brought for Kaysera’s service." -
Yolanda and Kaysera’s family meet with Investigator Mike Fuss
Yolanda and Kaysera’s family meet with Investigator Mike Fuss of the Bighorn County Sheriff’s Office after numerous attempts to meet with him. When asked why the site wasn’t secured and taped off, Fuss said that if the investigator gets to a crime scene first, they don’t have to secure it. When the family asked Fuss about why no one charged Kaysera’s phone, he was surprised they knew about it and said the battery was dead. The family said they could have looked at her recent communications -
Investigator Fuss tells Yolanda that he had taken over for the first investigator, Jeremy Middlestead
Investigator Fuss tells Yolanda that he had taken over for the first investigator, Jeremy Middlestead, and that Terry Bullis had removed Kaysera’s body from the Medical Examiner’s Office without permission and the body had to be retrieved. Fuss appeared to look mad when the family told him they had put out a $5K award. During this meeting, Fuss was also insinuating that she had died from alcohol poisoning and had died in the spot she was found. -
Grace Bulltail, Kaysera’s aunt, meets with Bighorn County Attorney Jay Harris and Liaison Devaney Buffalo.
Harris told Grace that he was unsure who was leading the investigation due to reorganization and general turmoil in the sheriff’s office. He also pointed out that the coroner (Terry Bullis) had a potential conflict of interest as the county coroner and a business owner of the funeral home. Harris also said that Bullis tends to quickly make the determination of the cause death as exposure to alcohol and natural causes under his charge as coroner. -
Harris told Grace of an altercation that occurred before August 14
Harris told Grace of an altercation that occurred before August 14 in which Kaysera got into a fight. Yolanda was not notified of the altercation, even though the other girl’s mother pressed charges on Kaysera who was under 18. Attorney Harris said she may still be alive if he would have charged her. Grace could not get a clear answer when she asked if law enforcement were looking into Kaysera’s social media for evidence. -
Yolanda is notified that there was no Missing Child Report filed
Yolanda is notified that there was no Missing Child Report filed for Kaysera, and she was not in the Missing Persons Database. -
March for justice (1)
During the March for Kaysera, Yolanda's younger sister received a text message that gave the names of two boys whom they said Kaysera had been hanging around with.
Also a man in an electric wheelchair told Yolanda's family that he lived in the apartments on the street where Kaysera’s body was found. He said that he always goes by Schaff’s backyard where Kaysera was found and he didn’t see her laying there before the day her body was found. -
March for justice (2)
Yolanda's other sister received two other names of younger boys that had been at a party in the trailer park near where Kaysera’s body was found. Kaysera’s sister said that she had heard someone was chasing Kaysera. -
Yolanda attempts to obtain Kaysera’s death certificate
Yolanda attempts to obtain Kaysera’s death certificate after being advised to ask Bullis for details related to her death that were required for the application. Bullis tried to persuade Yolanda not to seek a death certification citing “pending investigation” because it would take too long. Yolanda attempted to submit a notarized letter in accordance with the application, but the Deputy Clerk didn’t want to take the application and kept handing it back to them. -
An application was sent to Helena, Montana via certified mail
They Deputy Clerk admitted that she had never handled a case like this, so they decided to send the application to Helena Montana via certified mail to make sure it was received. -
Yolanda meets with the Big Horn County Sheriff and Undersheriff
Yolanda was told that they should have been informed on August 29 that there was a possibility that the body could have been Kaysera’s. Because they weren't notified, Kaysera was cremated against their cultural beliefs and evidence may had been destroyed. They didn’t provide additional information as to why Kaysera’s body was moved from the crime lab to the funeral home and back. They blamed Bullis. They said the body was found at 6:43 pm, but the newspaper stated it was found in the morning. -
Tiffany Bulltail, Kaysera’s aunt, reaches out to the FBI
Tiffany Bulltail, Kaysera’s aunt, reaches out to the FBI and requests an investigation into the death of her niece. The FBI told her that they cannot investigate her niece’s death because they needed more evidence confirming that Kaysera’s murder occurred on the reservation before they would conduct an investigation. However, there is no evidence supporting that Kaysera’s death occurred off the reservation. -
Yolanda and her family submit a letter to Sheriff Lawrence Bighair
Yolanda and her family submit a letter to Sheriff Lawrence Bighair regarding the September 19, 2019 meeting with Investigator Mike Fuss that left them feeling like they were not being taken seriously and that Kaysera’s death was not being properly investigated. As of December 23, 2019, there has been no response regarding Yolanda’s letter pertaining to the meeting with Mike Fuss. -
Yolanda submits a formal Request for Criminal Justice Information to Big Horn County Attorney Jay Harris
Yolanda submits a formal Request for Criminal Justice Information to Big Horn County Attorney Jay Harris. Included in her request are specific questions she has regarding the circumstances regarding Kaysera’s murder and tips the family had received from the community. As of December 23, 2019, there has been no response regarding Yolanda’s formal request for Criminal Justice Information. -
Grace reaches out to the Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula
Grace reaches out to the Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula and was told that the autopsy report was not complete and could take 12-16 weeks to be completed. She was told that the autopsy was conducted on August 27, 2019, but Kaysera’s body was reportedly found on August 29, 2019. As of December 23, 2019, there has been clarification that the autopsy was conducted on August 30, 2019. -
Terris Bullis stole Kaysera's Body from the Montana Department of Justice Crime Lab in Billings
On Sep 12th, Mr. Bullis took Kaysera's body without lawful authorization and before her remains were identified- compromising evidence related to Kaysera's murder. -
Grace Bulltail's Request for Coroner Report
Grace Bulltail asked Terry Bullis about the
progress of the coroner’s report. He stated that the county attorney has taken over all aspects of Kaysera’s case and that it is out of his hands. She said, "I paid you.” Terry Bullis said, “You paid the funeral home.” Terry Bullis repeated his answer that he was advised not to speak with us and that we would have to go through the county attorney. When asked why it's been 16 weeks since then, he flippantly said this's not long compared to other cases.