Darren Benavides

Crazy 😳

15 year-old Kayla Berg, went missing from Antigo, in August of 2009. August 11, 2009 at 9:30 p.m.: 24 year-old Kevin Kielcheski, a family friend, takes Kayla to a McDonalds, where she makes plans with a friend to talk later that night. Around 8:45 that evening, Within hours, she requested to be dropped off at a house out in Wausau, and from there she disappeared August 12, 2009: Kayla’s father calls Hope Berg, Kayla’s mother, to let her know Kayla hadn’t come home. Hope begins contacting Kayla’s friends, including Kevin Kielcheski, but nobody seems to know where Kayla is. Kevin claims he dropped Kayla off at her boyfriend’s house in Wausau (about 35 miles from Antigo). August 13-18, 2009: after about 5 to 6 days, when questioning Kayla’s friends still hadn’t located her, Kayla’s mother finally calls police to report her missing. Police list her as an endangered runaway and also question Kevin, and Kayla’s 19 year-old, secret boyfriend, Miguel. October 2009: Kevin is charged with 2nd Degree Reckless Endangerment. Police search where he was living in Deerbrook at his parents’ home, and his vehicle is taken in. Police also search two areas in Lincoln County where Miguel’s phone had pinged the night Kayla disappeared. May 2011: Cadaver dogs search Kevin’s parents’ property, as well as the potato farm. Kayla is not found. June 15, 2011: Kayla’s father, James, passes away after a hard-fought battle with cancer. July 22, 2011: Charges are dropped against Kevin, due to lack of evidence. October 2016: A video is discovered on YouTube, posted back in 2011, now known as the “Hi Walter” video. This video features a man who appears to have a girl chained and held captive; the girl was said to resemble Kayla, and soon goes viral. This video is later found to be a fake, but not before it traumatizes Hope, Kayla’s mother. October 2019: A search is done in the Nicolet National Forest in eastern Langlade County. Kayla is not found. December 2023: An inmate in the Wisconsin State Prison System gives police a tip leading them to search in Kewaunee County, about 100 miles east of Antigo. Kayla is not found. To this day, Kayla has never been found, and no one has faced any consequences for her disappearance. Unfortunately, her father passed away never knowing what happened to his daughter. Her mother, Hope, is still looking for answers.

Crazy 😳