On a Valentine's Day morning in 2007, 25-year-old Casey Scott Berry was last seen in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. Originally from central California where he had been a high school athlete, Casey had moved to Colorado, drawn by the natural landscape. He had taken forestry classes and worked with the Youth Conservation Corps planting trees. At the time of his disappearance, he was living in a residence located between Alamosa and San Luis with his wife, their child, a roommate named Duane Kulakofsky, and Kulakofsky's girlfriend. On the morning of February 14, around 9:00 a.m., Casey reportedly left his home with his friend, Duane Kulakofsky. He was on his way to visit an acquaintance in a very rural part of Blanca, a small town in Costilla County. Casey was driving a small blue Mazda pickup truck that belonged to his female roommate; neither Casey nor the vehicle have been seen since.
The circumstances surrounding Casey's disappearance are deeply troubling and hinge on the uncorroborated account of his friend, Duane Kulakofsky. According to Kulakofsky, when Casey did not come back, he went to the acquaintance's house to look for him. Kulakofsky later told friends a chilling story: he claimed to have found Casey's body, asserting that the acquaintance, a Native American man he knew only as 'Bob,' had shot Casey multiple times in the head after an argument. He further alleged that 'Bob,' whom he described as violent and known to carry a rifle, forced him at gunpoint to help clean the scene and place Casey's body inside an old car, which was then set on fire. This horrifying narrative, however, only came to the attention of law enforcement after Kulakofsky shared it with friends, who then relayed the information to the police.
When authorities finally located Duane Kulakofsky, who was then living near the Utah border, they questioned both him and his girlfriend. The couple reportedly agreed to cooperate with the investigation, but after being released, they vanished and have not been seen or heard from since. Investigators have been unable to identify the man named 'Bob' or find the rural property where the alleged murder took place. Without a body, a crime scene, or the primary witness, the investigation into what happened to Casey Berry has stalled. Foul play is strongly suspected in his disappearance. The case remains an unsolved and deeply painful mystery for his family, a story that began with a trip to visit a friend and ended with a disturbing, unverified account of violence and a key witness who disappeared.
Last Seen: Feb 14, 2007
