Manhunt for Montana bar taking pictures suspect continues into third day

The manhunt for a army veteran suspected of fatally taking pictures 4 individuals at a bar in Montana stretched into a 3rd day with no seize.

Police are in search of Michael Paul Brown, 45, who is needed for allegedly taking pictures inside The Owl Bar within the small city of Anaconda, earlier than fleeing in a white pickup, which he ditched sooner or later.

Montana Lawyer Common Austin Knudsen instructed reporters on Sunday that Brown is believed to nonetheless be armed and harmful. A $7,500 reward has been supplied for any info that results in his arrest.

“This is an unstable individual who walked in and murdered four people in cold blood for no reason whatsoever. So there absolutely is concern for the public,” Knudsen stated.

Authorities launched a photograph of the suspect stated to be taken as he fled after the taking pictures: Gaunt, barefoot and sporting nothing however black shorts, he’s seen strolling down what seems to be a flight of outside concrete steps.

Montana Division of Justice on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, launched this picture of Michael Brown fleeing.

Montana Division of Justice

On Saturday, the search concerned deputies traversing the rugged mountainous round west of Anaconda, each on the bottom and by air. The search included a number of native, state, and federal companies.

Anaconda-Deer Lodge Police Chief Invoice Sather stated Saturday that companies within the space might open, however he urged warning.

The victims had been recognized as Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59, Nancy Lauretta Kelly, 64, David Allen Leach, 70, and 74-year-old Tony Wayne Palm. They had been all from Anaconda.

Knudsen stated the investigation has led them to consider Brown, who lived subsequent door, was an everyday on the bar and knew the victims.

“This is a small, tight-knit community that has been harmed by the heinous actions of one individual who does not represent what this community or Montanans stand for,” stated Lee Johnson, administrator of the Montana Division of Legal Investigation.

“She just retired and just kind of did [bartending] to have something to do on a day or two. Just to be out and about,” she stated.

Anaconda, about 25 miles northwest of Butte, is dwelling to roughly 9,000 individuals. Hemmed in by mountains, it was based by copper barons who profited from close by mines within the late 1800s. A smelter stack that’s now not operational looms over the valley.

Police tape surrounds The Owl Bar in Anaconda, Mont., on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, following a deadly taking pictures.

Joseph Scheller/The Montana Normal by way of AP

The Owl Bar’s proprietor, David Gwerder, instructed The Related Press that he was not conscious of any battle between Brown and the victims.

“He knew everybody that was in that bar. I guarantee you that,” Gwerder stated. “He didn’t have any running dispute with any of them. I just think he snapped.”

Brown served within the Military as an armor crewman from 2001 to 2005 and deployed to Iraq from early 2004 till March 2005, based on Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, an Military spokesperson. Brown was within the Montana Nationwide Guard from 2006 to March 2009, Castro stated, and left army service on the rank of sergeant.

Brown’s niece, Clare Boyle, instructed AP her uncle has struggled with psychological sickness for years and she or he and different members of the family repeatedly sought assist.

“This isn’t just a drunk/high man going wild,” she stated in a Fb message. “It’s a sick man who doesn’t know who he is sometimes and frequently doesn’t know where or when he is either.”

“He was somebody that needed some serious resources. He had some mental health issues as well as PTSD from being in the military,” Kristian Kelley stated. “I’ve never known him to be violent. He was a person who would tell pretty strange stories and different things like that.”

Extra from CBS Information