26-year-old woman vanished in December, Montana cops say. Now remains have been found

A 26-year-old was reported missing weeks ago. Now remains have been found during a search, Montana police told news outlets.

Katelynn Berry was reported missing on New Year’s Eve, the Sidney Police Department said. She was last seen 10 days earlier at her home south of Sidney.

People had tried to contact Berry but couldn’t reach her, and she does not have a car, police said. Her phone was left inside her house.

“Katelynn is known in the past to walk away from her residence, so there is concern for her well being due to weather conditions,” Sidney police said in a Dec. 31 statement.

Officials have been searching for Berry for weeks, police said. A large-scale search effort was launched Thursday, Jan. 20. Police asked for volunteers to search the area for up to six hours.

A team of volunteers discovered human remains at about 9:20 a.m. on Thursday, police told the Billings Gazette. The search had been going on for less than two hours.

“The Richland County Sheriff’s Office, members of the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, as well as other law enforcement assets have secured the area and are actively processing and documenting the scene,” Sidney Police Chief Mark Kraft said in a statement to the news outlet.

The search effort was suspended until the remains can be identified, Valley News Live reported.

The body will be sent to a state medical examiner for an autopsy, according to the Grand Forks Herald.

Berry is the daughter of Grand Forks County prosecutor Carmell Mattison, according to the Grand Forks Herald. She split her time between the city and Sidney.

Sydney is near the border of Montana and North Dakota.

This story was originally published January 20, 2022 at 2:04 PM with the headline "26-year-old woman vanished in December, Montana cops say. Now remains have been found."