How Did Kiera Bergman Die? New Details About The Teen Whose Body Was Found After She Went Missing A Month Ago
The 19-year-old's body was discovered in a desert area outside of Phoenix, Arizona.
Facebook The body of 19-year-old Kiera Bergman was found by a passerby in a rural desert area outside of Phoenix, Arizona on Monday, Sept. 3.
Bergman had been missing since Aug. 4, and she was last seen outside of her apartment. The body was found approximately 40 miles away from the complex. Few other details surrounding her death are available at this time.
However, police are investigating the event as a homicide.
Bergman, a native of El Cajon, California, had moved to Phoenix just four months ago. Her mother, Kiersten Bragg, says that she was concerned that something would happen to her daughter living so far away from home.
“Being so far away from her, it just scared me,” Kiersten told NBC. “I’m sure any mother would have that fear.”
Unfortunately, Kiersten’s nightmare came true when she first received word that her daughter was missing on Aug. 6, two days after she was last seen.
On the afternoon of Aug. 4, Kiera and her ex-boyfriend, 23-year-old Jon-Christopher Clark, were arguing at her apartment. Clark was the last person to see Kiera alive and says that she stormed out of the apartment without saying where she was going.
Her roommate, Destiny Hall-Chand, says that Kiera sent her a text saying that she was meeting up with a man she met at the furniture store where both roommates worked. She also noted that this was unusual behavior for Kiera.
When police interviewed Clark and found that he was the last person to see her alive on the night of her disappearance, they obtained a search warrant for his car. While they didn’t find any evidence relating to Kiera’s disappearance, they did find multiple personal identification documents that did not belong to Clark.
That led to Clark’s arrest on 22 counts of aggravated identity theft and 2 counts of forgery, all of which are unrelated to Kiera’s disappearance.
While police have not named Clark as a person of interest or suspect in the case, there is undoubtedly an air of suspicion surrounding the circumstances of his relationship with Kiera and the events of the afternoon of Aug. 4.
Shortly before his arrest for the unrelated charges, Clark told Huffington Post that he had refused a polygraph test. However, Clark took to Instagram to maintain his innocence.
“I love Kiera with all my heart and would never do anything negative to her or put her in harm’s way,” he said in the post. He also reiterated to followers that he has been open and cooperative with investigators.
While the investigation proceeds, police are encouraging anyone with information about the circumstances surrounding Kiera’s disappearance and death to call Silent Witness at (480) W-I-T-N-E-S-S, or the Spanish line at (480) T-E-S-T-I-G-O. Callers can remain anonymous, and any information that leads to a break in the case may be eligible for a reward of up to $1000.