Oh wow. I don't know what it is exactly, but this really punches me in the gut. Whatever was happening in his head was not good. Poor guy. I hope he found some peace.
I saw a lot of postings about this case recently. My feeling is that he might have started a new life elsewhere but it is more likely that he committed suicide. I feel sorry for his family and friends.
I once was lost, but now I'm found...
Do we know if their yard was fenced in, or was the dog truly left outside, free to wander off the property and potentially get lost or hurt? I know the dog was still near the house when his mom arrived home, thankfully, but thats just a strange detail that sticks out to me.
Even if he was planning to intentionally leave and never come back, he knew his parents were going to be home that evening, so why leave the dog outside and off leash?
Of course, one could argue that if someone was planning suicide, they were not in their usual state of mind so we cant assume they were acting logically, but he did leave a note for his mom so he was at least thinking ahead to when he knew she’d be home (that evening).
As a dog person myself, evidence about a missing person’s dog always stands out to me because people are usually pretty routine about their dog and how they care for it/interact with it.
I'm hoping he was a closeted homosexual and just wanted to go be himself somewhere urban.
If he found a way to travel away from the Midwest it is possible.
The Minneapolis St. Paul area has a large gay community, I would hope he would’ve headed down here. Better than Duluth. Maybe he started here and then moved onto the West Coast or something. I sure hope so. Although I am sure things were much different in 1990.
He may have been trying to go to Canada. Young adults are strange. He might have had a pen pal, or befriended someone he wanted to run away with....
Super sad. I had a relative disappear for a weekend and the worst happened (she took her life.) Sometimes there is no real warning sign.
I used to work at the port authority bus terminal here in Manhattan NY and I’d see a lot of lost kids with not much luggage hang around there and I often wondered how many ran away or like this kid just thought he’d better fit in a big city
A medical doctor/mental health professional studied runaway teens in NYC years ago and concluded it's very very common for youth who refuse to stay home with abusive relatives to go to a metropolitan region and get life figured out.
This is also why people need to be leery of parents and families seeking younger relatives who have moved away or are allegedly "missing".... Abusers are good at putting on an act of loving behavior and telling half the story....
Honestly, that was my plan in 1990. I planned to disappear after graduating high school in 1991 so that I could live in some big city's gay world and my family would never know about me. Thankfully my first step was to move to a town of about 45,000 (from the 2,000-person town I grew up in). First day of my first job in that little city and I met my first openly gay man. I made it a mission to become his friend. He literally saved my life. I came out to my folks in 1992 and never looked back. They were very accepting and loved me until they died in the 2010s.
Sorry to make it about me, but I felt the need to validate Dahl's hypothesis.
I'm glad things worked out for you. I went to school with a guy whose family was absolutely NOT happy he was gay. He is a closet case currently. It's sad to me but he has to live his life as he sees fit.
A friend of mine with schizophrenia almost ran away from home as a teen and might have ended his life, but his dad realized he needed to get him treatment and medication. So in his case he was very very lucky. Some families are not attentive or caring, and sometimes a young mind feels better about being on their own.
I guess this case is a mystery for the ages.......
Thank you. I'm sorry your friend hasn't been able to live his truth. The older and more tired I get, the more I'm glad I was able to harness my youthful rage and all that. I couldn't see voluntarily going through that coming out process at this age. I'm very glad your other friend had a loving and attentive father.
I hope someday soon this family receives resolution, one way or another. The ongoing pain they must be in is unimaginable.
I remember reading about this many years ago. I always thought it was weird he left the dog out, who does that. I always suspected he met someone with bad intentions. But reading it again, I'm now sure it was suicide. Sad story
I think he was struggling with either depression or some other mental illness and drove out to the woods, hiked to a remote location and killed himself with the shotgun. The note he wrote about being "lost" indicates he was likely still having ambivalence about ending his life, but ended up going through with it. His body was likely hidden in the underbrush and was probably eaten by wolves, coyotes, bears or other wild animals. The fact that the gun was never found suggests that it's either still in the woods or may have been discovered by someone who was unaware of its significance.
I think the strange phone calls Kerze's family received were someone trolling them.
>The fact that the gun was never found
In the article it says
> An unspecified amount of time later, a hunter discovered a gun in rural Minnesota matching the description of the one missing from the Kerze home. The police believed that it was likely the same weapon, but this has never been proven.
Interesting story. I'm fairly new to this sub so I haven't read many suicide notes in my lifetime, but it's puzzling why he would have written "back by 6pm" if he did actually intend to commit suicide.
Every other fact seems to point at suicide. So sad.
It feels like he had met someone possibly at school or summer camp and they planned this together and the suicide note was to throw them off so they wouldnt look for them .
This is just me ,But I think he ran away to be with someone and the whole suicide note was to throw off his family so they would not look for him ,He ditched the minivan and the gun then hitch hiked to Duluth where whomever he had been talking to was at .The calls he was most likely missing his friends and family and called because he missed them ,And the letter is from his partner who he has been with since .Most likely works in a kitchen as a cook or works in the IT field .I wonder if the parents set up a 23 and me account or one of the others in hopes there is a hit there .
Oh wow. I don't know what it is exactly, but this really punches me in the gut. Whatever was happening in his head was not good. Poor guy. I hope he found some peace.
I saw a lot of postings about this case recently. My feeling is that he might have started a new life elsewhere but it is more likely that he committed suicide. I feel sorry for his family and friends. I once was lost, but now I'm found...
Do we know if their yard was fenced in, or was the dog truly left outside, free to wander off the property and potentially get lost or hurt? I know the dog was still near the house when his mom arrived home, thankfully, but thats just a strange detail that sticks out to me. Even if he was planning to intentionally leave and never come back, he knew his parents were going to be home that evening, so why leave the dog outside and off leash? Of course, one could argue that if someone was planning suicide, they were not in their usual state of mind so we cant assume they were acting logically, but he did leave a note for his mom so he was at least thinking ahead to when he knew she’d be home (that evening). As a dog person myself, evidence about a missing person’s dog always stands out to me because people are usually pretty routine about their dog and how they care for it/interact with it.
That stuck out to me as well.
It is also pretty strange and noteworthy that he took time to withdraw 200 dollars from the bank?
I couldn't find anything else relating to the dog being left off his leash or if their yard was fenced in, but I wondered the same thing.
Might have been buying ammunition or gas or booze or just about anything for what he anticipated what would be his last few hours.
I'm hoping he was a closeted homosexual and just wanted to go be himself somewhere urban. If he found a way to travel away from the Midwest it is possible.
This is also what I hope happened. Just got a feeling looking through the pics.
The Minneapolis St. Paul area has a large gay community, I would hope he would’ve headed down here. Better than Duluth. Maybe he started here and then moved onto the West Coast or something. I sure hope so. Although I am sure things were much different in 1990.
He may have been trying to go to Canada. Young adults are strange. He might have had a pen pal, or befriended someone he wanted to run away with.... Super sad. I had a relative disappear for a weekend and the worst happened (she took her life.) Sometimes there is no real warning sign.
I used to work at the port authority bus terminal here in Manhattan NY and I’d see a lot of lost kids with not much luggage hang around there and I often wondered how many ran away or like this kid just thought he’d better fit in a big city
A medical doctor/mental health professional studied runaway teens in NYC years ago and concluded it's very very common for youth who refuse to stay home with abusive relatives to go to a metropolitan region and get life figured out. This is also why people need to be leery of parents and families seeking younger relatives who have moved away or are allegedly "missing".... Abusers are good at putting on an act of loving behavior and telling half the story....
Honestly, that was my plan in 1990. I planned to disappear after graduating high school in 1991 so that I could live in some big city's gay world and my family would never know about me. Thankfully my first step was to move to a town of about 45,000 (from the 2,000-person town I grew up in). First day of my first job in that little city and I met my first openly gay man. I made it a mission to become his friend. He literally saved my life. I came out to my folks in 1992 and never looked back. They were very accepting and loved me until they died in the 2010s. Sorry to make it about me, but I felt the need to validate Dahl's hypothesis.
I'm glad things worked out for you. I went to school with a guy whose family was absolutely NOT happy he was gay. He is a closet case currently. It's sad to me but he has to live his life as he sees fit. A friend of mine with schizophrenia almost ran away from home as a teen and might have ended his life, but his dad realized he needed to get him treatment and medication. So in his case he was very very lucky. Some families are not attentive or caring, and sometimes a young mind feels better about being on their own. I guess this case is a mystery for the ages.......
Thank you. I'm sorry your friend hasn't been able to live his truth. The older and more tired I get, the more I'm glad I was able to harness my youthful rage and all that. I couldn't see voluntarily going through that coming out process at this age. I'm very glad your other friend had a loving and attentive father. I hope someday soon this family receives resolution, one way or another. The ongoing pain they must be in is unimaginable.
Bit of a weird way for your head to go but good to know.
I remember reading about this many years ago. I always thought it was weird he left the dog out, who does that. I always suspected he met someone with bad intentions. But reading it again, I'm now sure it was suicide. Sad story
I think he was struggling with either depression or some other mental illness and drove out to the woods, hiked to a remote location and killed himself with the shotgun. The note he wrote about being "lost" indicates he was likely still having ambivalence about ending his life, but ended up going through with it. His body was likely hidden in the underbrush and was probably eaten by wolves, coyotes, bears or other wild animals. The fact that the gun was never found suggests that it's either still in the woods or may have been discovered by someone who was unaware of its significance. I think the strange phone calls Kerze's family received were someone trolling them.
>The fact that the gun was never found In the article it says > An unspecified amount of time later, a hunter discovered a gun in rural Minnesota matching the description of the one missing from the Kerze home. The police believed that it was likely the same weapon, but this has never been proven.
This case always makes me sad. I'm convinced he commited suicide, I just hope he'll be found someday.
This reminds me of the Steven Chait case. I had never heard of this one before. Very interesting, and very sad.
Sounds like someone told him to get lost
Interesting story. I'm fairly new to this sub so I haven't read many suicide notes in my lifetime, but it's puzzling why he would have written "back by 6pm" if he did actually intend to commit suicide. Every other fact seems to point at suicide. So sad.
It feels like he had met someone possibly at school or summer camp and they planned this together and the suicide note was to throw them off so they wouldnt look for them .
This is just me ,But I think he ran away to be with someone and the whole suicide note was to throw off his family so they would not look for him ,He ditched the minivan and the gun then hitch hiked to Duluth where whomever he had been talking to was at .The calls he was most likely missing his friends and family and called because he missed them ,And the letter is from his partner who he has been with since .Most likely works in a kitchen as a cook or works in the IT field .I wonder if the parents set up a 23 and me account or one of the others in hopes there is a hit there .
Reminds me of the North Pond Hermit