Days before Kaysera went missing, she films and posts to social media the beating of her 15-year-old brother by law enforcement at Crow Fair. The officers beating the minor in a wheelchair includes 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 is a responding officer when her body was discovered.

Kaysera doesn't come home. At the time, she lives with her grandmother Yolanda Fraser in Hardin, Montana

Kaysera has plans to meet up with her mom so the two could travel to North Dakota to visit relatives, but she never arrives. Even more worryingly, the normally social-media active Kaysera hasn’t posted anything or been in touch with anyone since the 24th. 

Percelia Brown Bulltail, Kaysera’s aunt, alleges that she attempts to file a missing person report with Big Horn County (“BHC”) Police but is told there is a waiting period before a report can be made.

Kaysera’s body is found but is not yet identified to the family. Percelia arrives on scene requesting to identify the body, but her request is denied by officials. The body is already bagged and the BHC officer onsite refuses to confirm the possibility of it being Kaysera. No information is given to the media that a body had been found.

Location Of Kaysera's Body (Approx. Location)

Yolanda Fraser, Kaysera’s paternal grandmother and legal guardian is contacted by her brother whose granddaughter on Crow Reservation tells him she read on Twitter that the body found in Hardin on August 29th is a Stops girl, 17 yrs old. Yolanda contacts Kaysera’s mother and aunt to check out the tip she received from her brother.

Kaysera’s mother, Geralyn Bulltail Stops, and Percelia go to Bullis Mortuary to see if the body is Kaysera’s and they are told it isn't her. Kaysera’s family continues to search for her and hold onto hope that she would return to them safely while local authorities had already found her.

Bullis Mortuary

Yolanda is notified by Percelia that the body found on August 29, 2019 had been positively identified as Kaysera. Kaysera’s paternal family is never officially notified by the BHC Sheriff or BHC County Coroner that she had been found.

Geralyn is told by Terry Bullis, owner of Bullis Mortuary and BHC County Coroner, that Kaysera’s remains had to be cremated in order to be returned to the family. At this point, Kaysera’s remains were still at the Montana Department of Justice Crime Lab in Billings, Montana. The family wants Dahl funeral home in Billings to handle funeral arrangements. However, Bullis, acting either in his coroner role or funeral director role, makes the family use his funeral home and immediately orders Kaysera’s cremation before other family members are able to arrive in Hardin. Grace and Cedar Bulltail, maternal aunts to Kaysera, arrive at Bullis Mortuary after Bullis speaks with Geralyn and accepts payment from her. Bullis, assumed to be acting in his role as coroner, tells Kaysera’s aunts that the date of her death is August 26, 2019.

Bullis Mortuary

Yolanda, Alan Stops (Kaysera’s father) and other family members attempt to visit the site where Kaysera’s body was found but cannot find the site because there is no crime scene tape or demarcation of where the body had been found. They also stop at Bullis Mortuary, but they are closed.

Bullis Mortuary

Yolanda, Alan, and other family members find the site with the help of relatives who live across the street from where Kaysera’s body was found. They are shocked to find that the location is highly visual and in an extremely high traffic area. The neighborhood is vibrant and alive with activity. They gain permission to access the site in order to perform a cultural ceremony. While there, they speak with the neighbor, Jason Cummings—who found Kaysera’s body—who said he had watched the police remove Kaysera’s phone from her pocket and he told them to charge it so they could find her family. Mr. Cummings said he also questioned the officer as to why the scene was not secured.

Location Of Kaysera's Body (Approx. Location)

Yolanda reaches out to Deputy Attorney General Melissa Schlichting requesting information on the missing person report for Kaysera, and is informed that Montana does not have a waiting period for a missing person’s report, that a person 21 and under is considered a child case and should be listed as a priority. Schlichting says it would take a few days to retrieve the information.

Yolanda goes to Bullis Mortuary, the funeral home of BHC County Coroner Terry Bullis, for Kaysera’s visitation and finds that her remains are not there. Bullis’ sister says they will arrive in 45 minutes. When they don't arrive, they are told that her remains may not be there for the funeral the next day and that they are closing soon at 4pm. The family refuses to leave, forcing the mortuary to stay open over an hour late, waiting for the ashes to arrive. Kaysera’s ashes finally arrive at 5:30 pm. Yolanda and her son Alan are not notified by Bullis in his capacity as the County Coroner nor as a Mortician regarding the arrangements or decision to cremate Kaysera despite Yolanda being Kaysera’s legal guardian and Alan being her biological father. Geralyn Bulltail Stops, Kaysera’s mother, is told by Bullis that Kaysera’s remains has to be cremated. Geralyn’s family is not comfortable with this, particularly since they do know what happened to her and that cremation is against their cultural beliefs. Kaysera’s mother goes ahead with the coroner/funeral director’s directive, despite not consulting Yolanda or Alan, so that Kaysera would be returned to the family. After Kaysera’s visitation service, Bullis tells the family that the autopsy report would take another three to four weeks and then proceeds to tell them that when the toxicology report arrives, it will “show there is drug or alcohol use detected that the cause would be exposure to alcohol or substance.” He also informs the family that Kaysera’s death certificate will be pending until the report is received.

Bullis Mortuary

Yolanda and Alan hand-deliver multiple notarized requests to the BHC Attorney’s office for all reports regarding Kaysera’s case.

Big Horn County Attorney's Office

Yolanda’s family calls a Billings Gazette reporter, Juliana Sukut, because there is no media coverage reporting that a body had been found 22 days ago and had been identified as Kaysera on September 11th. Ms. Sukut apologizes, saying that the BHC Sheriff’s Department did not tell them about finding a body or that an identification had been made despite the fact that the Gazette calls daily for updates.

Yolanda, Alan, and other family members meet with the investigating officer, Captain Mike Fuss of the BHC Sheriff’s Office after numerous attempts to meet with him. Captain Fuss is confused as to who they are. He thinks they are there wanting to talk regarding a cell phone that had been found near the site. Yolanda introduces herself as Kaysera’s legal guardian and Fuss says he thought Percelia is her legal guardian because she told him she is Kaysera’s legal guardian. Yolanda informs him that she has a copy of her guardianship papers to give him and asks if Percelia gave him any documentation. Fuss deflects the question by saying that Percelia said she is Kaysera’s mother. When asked why he never contacted, met with them or returned their numerous calls, Fuss says that he had been busy with his other cases and that’s why he hadn’t returned the family’s phone calls. When asked why the site wasn’t secured and taped off, Fuss says that if the investigating officer gets to a crime scene first, they don’t have to secure it, it’s only when the police show up before the investigator that the police have to secure the crime scene. When the family asks Fuss why no one charged Kaysera’s phone and turned it on, he is surprised that they knew about it and said the battery was dead. The family said they could have charged it and looked at her recent communications, he said that they couldn’t get into that kind of phone, even the FBI can’t break into that type of phone. Yolanda and Alan sign a Release of Information form for Kaysera’s cell phone and social media accounts. Fuss tells Yolanda that he had taken over for the first investigator, Jeremy Middlestead. When asked why he took over the investigation, he said “because [Middlestead] couldn’t handle it”. Fuss went on to say that Terry Bullis had “snatched the body from the crime lab” and he had to get it and take it back, which explains the defensive remark by Bullis’ sister on the day of the visitation that the body had to be taken back to the crime lab by police escort. Fuss appeared angry when the family told him they had put out a $5K award for any information. During this meeting, Fuss was also insinuating that she had died from alcohol poisoning and had died in the spot she was found. Fuss also stated that the body was found at 6:43 p.m., but the newspaper said she was found in the morning.

Big Horn County Sheriff's Office

Yolanda and Alan deliver a notarized request to Terry Bullis at his mortuary for all reports regarding Kaysera’s case.

Bullis Mortuary

Grace and Cedar Bulltail meet with BHC Attorney Jay Harris and Liaison Devaney Buffalo. Harris tells Grace that he is unsure who is leading the investigation due to reorganization and general turmoil in the sheriff’s office. He also points out that the coroner, Terry Bullis, has a potential conflict of interest as the county coroner and a business owner of the funeral home. Harris also explains that Bullis tends to quickly make the determination of the cause death as exposure to alcohol and natural causes under his charge as coroner. Up to this point, no one in the family has been interviewed by investigators. The family has not been asked for basic information such as Kaysera’s phone number or service provider. The family has to insist that the county attorney examine phone records and contents be considered by investigators. Also, Grace could not get a clear answer when she asks Harris if law enforcement are looking into Kaysera’s social media accounts for evidence. During the meeting, the county attorney behaves in a discourteous manner to Kaysera’s family members and often made facetious remarks such as “How do you know that nothing is being done?”

Big Horn County Attorney's Office

BHC Sheriff Lawrence Big Hair meets with Cedar Bulltail at her home. He informs Cedar that Terry Bullis had taken Kaysera’s remains several times from the crime lab in Billings. The sheriff states that the coroner/funeral director had “snatched” Kaysera’s remains and he has to take the body back to the crime lab for further analysis.

Yolanda is notified by Deputy Attorney General Melissa Schlichting that there was no Missing Child Report filed for Kaysera and she is not in the Missing Persons Database.

A candlelight vigil is held for Kaysera on the same day as an MMIW March held in her honor.

This MMIW March for Kaysera is held from the crime scene to the BHC Courthouse.

Big Horn County Courthouse

Yolanda and Alan make a second attempt to obtain Kaysera’s death certificate after being advised by the BHC County Clerk and Recorder to ask Bullis for details related to her death that are required for the application. Bullis trues to persuade them not to seek a death certification citing “pending investigation” because it will take too long and that they have to go see the Clerk and Recorder for this. Yolanda and Alan attempt to submit a notarized letter in accordance with the application at the Clerk and Recorders Office, but the Deputy Clerk doesn't want to take the application and keeps handing it back to them telling them that Bullis handles the death certificates. The Deputy Clerk admits that she had never handled a case like this, so they decide to send the application in via certified mail along with payment to make sure it is received.

Yolanda calls her son Justin to tell him to call the hotline with a tip because she doesn’t put much trust in it. The dispatcher tells Justin there is no officer there to take the call. She refuses to take his tip and says that an officer must receive the tip from him directly. She explains that an officer will call back around 7 pm, but Justin does not receive a call back until 9:30 pm from Officer Middlestead.

Yolanda and Alan meet with the BHC Sheriff Big Hair and Undersheriff Clinton Iron where she is told that they should have been informed on August 29, 2019 that there is a possibility that the body could have been Kaysera’s. Yolanda asks why the biological father and legal guardian were not notified of her death. Because they were not notified, Kaysera is cremated, which is against their cultural beliefs, and crucial evidence may have been destroyed. Sheriff Big Hair indicates that they should have been notified. They don't provide additional information as to why Kaysera’s body had been moved from the crime lab to the funeral home and back. They blame Bullis for removing her body. Yolanda tells him that she knew Bullis had previously been in trouble with the state board. When asked why the FBI wasn’t called in on the case, Sheriff Big Hair said they can be if the family wants them to take the case. The Sheriff instructs them to write up a statement regarding the September 19, 2019 meeting with Officer Fuss. He also says that he signed the family up with the Victim’s Advocate who would update them about the case.

Big Horn County Sheriff's Office

Tiffany Glenn, Kaysera’s aunt, reaches out to the FBI and requests an investigation into the death of her niece. The FBI tells her that they cannot investigate her niece’s death because they need 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. The FBI’s hasty decision not to investigate Kaysera’s death is deeply disturbing because the FBI should not be so quick to excuse itself from its federal trust duty and obligation to protect Native women and children.

In a news release, Big Horn County Attorney Jay Harris announces the creation of the 'Big Horn County Missing and Murdered Persons and Investigation Task Force'. According to Harris, the task force will involve "active case studies and policy review by agencies at all levels, from local and tribal, all the way to state and federal partners".

Yolanda attempts to call Victim Advocate Devaney Buffalo with the phone number Sheriff Big Hair had given her. She receives no response and leaves a message instead.

Yolanda emails the Devaney Buffalo, BHC's Victim Liaison, in an attempt to reach her and sends a list of questions about Kaysera’s case.

Yolanda receives a call from Victim Advocate Devaney Buffalo who informs her that she has been calling her office number and that she is only there for appointments. She gives Yolanda her cell number. Devaney says she will work on answers for the questions, but that she will have to call her back next week because she is at a training in Billings. Devaney says Officer Crookshank has been assigned to assist Officer Fuss with the case. When asked about reports, she says that an autopsy report is not generally given out, but the family can ask for a coroner’s report. When told about Officer Fuss’ statement that he has to replace Officer Middlestead, Devaney says Officer Fuss is a captain and takes all the big cases.

The county attorney insists that Kaysera’s family members submit a Request for Criminal Justice Information for all inquiries. Grace sends a letter requesting a police report, missing person report, list of witnesses interviewed, and coroner’s report be sent to the family attorney. None of this information has been released to the family or their legal counsel. The county attorney has not returned any emails to the family including those requesting a meeting with him.

Yolanda and her family submit a letter to Sheriff Lawrence Big Hair regarding the September 19, 2019 meeting with Investigator Mike Fuss that left them feeling like they are not being taken seriously and that Kaysera’s death is not being properly investigated. As of February 25, 2020, there has been no response regarding Yolanda’s letter pertaining to the meeting with Mike Fuss.

Included in her request are specific questions she has regarding the circumstances of Kaysera’s murder and tips the family have received from the community. As of February 25, 2020 there has been no response regarding Yolanda’s formal request for Criminal Justice Information.

Protest for Justice for Kaysera is held at BHC Court House.

Big Horn County Courthouse

Yolanda calls the FBI seeking assistance but receives no response, so she leaves a message.

Yolanda, Alan and Rae Peppers meet with BHC County Attorney Jay Harris. Mr. Harris is defensive throughout the entire the meeting. When Yolanda asks why no official has interviewed her or Kaysera’s father about Kaysera’s health or anything at all, Mr. Harris folds his arms across his chest and tells Yolanda he doesn’t feel comfortable and doesn’t know if he can meet with the family, and that he is not sure what he can tell them. Yolanda gives Mr. Harris a media release highlighting his supervisory role over all suspicious deaths and homicides, which is why she initially sought a meeting with him since the sheriff nor investigation officers have answers. Importantly, Mr. Harris is offended by Yolanda’s use of the term “murder” when referring to Kaysera’s cause of death. When Yolanda asks why the family had not received any reports as requested on September 18, 2019, Mr. Harris informs them that a special form is necessary when requesting such reports. She states that they had not been informed that a form is needed and had been waiting and inquiring about the status of the reports. Mr. Harris writes down Yolanda’s questions as if he has never heard of them despite a formal request sent to his office on October 29, 2019 requesting answers to the same questions. Yolanda files the necessary form during this meeting. Yolanda’s worst fears are confirmed as Mr. Harris tells her there is a gap in active investigation for Kaysera’s case. The first week after Kaysera's body was found in late August, the investigation halted due to personnel issues and there was no officer to assign to her case after Officer Middlestead recused himself from the case.

Big Horn County Attorney's Office

Grace reaches out to the Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula and is told that the autopsy report is not complete and could take 12-16 weeks to be completed. She is also told that the autopsy was conducted on August 27, 2019, but Kaysera’s body was reportedly found on August 29, 2019.

Yolanda and Alan attend a DOJ MIP in Lame Deer seeking resources and help to get justice for Kaysera.

Lame Deer

Grace asks Terry Bullis about the progress of the coroner’s report. Bullis states that he did tell Geralyn that Kaysera’s remains had to be cremated for her to be returned to her family for burial. When Grace asks if that is the only way, he said “it was the simplest and easiest way” to have the remains handled. He states that the county attorney has taken over all aspects of Kaysera’s case and that it is out of his hands. When Bullis is asked why the family has had to wait for the autopsy report since it had been 16 weeks since it was completed, he flippantly states that he has cases that have been out way longer than that. Grace states that she had paid Terry Bullis for his services and has a right to obtain information from him. He says that she had paid the funeral home. The name of the business, Bullis Mortuary, has his family name in the title, but Bullis shifts between his role as coroner and business owner when it is convenient for him to avoid accountability to Kaysera’s family.

Protest for Justice for Kaysera is held at BHC Court House.

Big Horn County Courthouse

Grace speaks to Melissa Schlichting, Deputy Attorney General for Montana after writing several letters to the Attorney General’s office. Melissa states that the date of the autopsy was August 30, 2019 not August 27, 2019 as the family had been told by the MT DOJ forensic science division. Melissa did not know when the official autopsy report would be complete or that if when it was completed, that it would be released to the family. Grace expressed that the family was receiving no information from BHC officials and was asking the MT DOJ for the information they could provide to the family and legal counsel. Melissa stated that the MT DOJ works to assist criminal justice efforts directly to county officials in the state. Again, Grace asked for Attorney General Fox to meet with Kaysera’s family members and Melissa stated she would set up a meeting. Kaysera’s family members have not been contacted to meet with the Attorney General.

Protest for Justice for Kaysera and Selena Not Afraid is held at BHC Court House.

Big Horn County Courthouse

Yolanda and her sister Melissa attend a DOJ Taskforce meeting in Billings, MT seeking resources to obtain justice for Kaysera.

Sovereign Bodies Institute organizes and hosts a series of community meetings and vigils in Big Horn County for the families of homicide victims in Yellowstone, Rosebud, and Big Horn Counties. Yolanda attends and advocates for justice on Kaysera’s case.

People gather at the Big Horn County Courthouse to remember the hundreds of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

A documentary titled 'Say Her Name' is released, which highlights Missing and Murdered Indigenous People in Montana, including Kaysera. The documentary aims to raise awareness and bring attention to media about the unsolved and seemingly ignored cases that go without media attention in Montana.

Kaysera's family holds another rally in honor of Kaysera, which is open to the public.

Big Horn County Courthouse

The non-profit holds a fundraiser, and Kaysera's family is in attendance.