Kayla Berg YouTube Abduction Video

Submission 16,630

Overview

Kayla Berg YouTube Abduction Video refers to a horror sketch video on YouTube, which many internet users speculated depicted the abduction of missing teenager Kayla Berg. After police launched an investigation into the video in 2016, it was determined that the footage was faked by the comedy group 2150 Studios and unrelated to the incident.

Background

In August 2009, 15-year-old Kayla Berg from Antigo, Wisconsin went missing after she was dropped off at her boyfriend's house 24 miles away in Wausau by one of her brother's friends. In October, a video titled “Hi Walter! I got a new gf today!” was uploaded to YouTube, featuring a man who describes meeting a woman and purchasing things for her at the mall before taking her home. The video cuts to a shot in front of a closed door, which the man opens to reveal a woman bound on the floor crying and pleading to be released (shown below).

Developments

On July 26th, 2016, a Facebook^[4] page titled "Hi Walter Its me Patrick" was created. On August 2nd, YouTuber Walterr's Horror uploaded an analysis of the video in Spanish (shown below).

On October 9th, Imgur^[7] user TheGeminiTiger posted a gallery containing an analysis of the video and comparing the blurry footage of the woman to pictures of Kayla Berg (shown below).

The following day, the Antigo, Wisconsin Police Department posted a message on Facebook^[3] announcing they had begun an investigation into the YouTube video (shown below). Meanwhile, the local Wisconsin news station reported on the video investigation, in which Berg's mother Hope Sprenger said that the woman in the footage sounded like her daughter, gave her "chills" and made her "sick to my stomach."^[5]

On October 11th, Redditor ajwgeek submitted the original video to /r/videos,^[1] claiming that it was being used as "new evidence for case of missing girl." Within 24 hours, the post gathered upwards of 5,400 votes (74% upvoted) and 2,300 comments. Shortly after, YouTube removed the video for violating the site's "Community Guidelines."

Man Identified

That evening, Redditor myCoderAccount replied to a post about the incident in /r/UnresolvedMysteries,^[6] claiming that he discovered that the man seen in the video was a "small-time actor who appears in a few dark humor sketches" (shown below).

Later that night, the Antigo Police Department issued a statement on Facebook^[2] announcing that the video was identified as "100% fake" and had "no connection" to Berg's disappearance:

2150 Studios Response

On October 12th, the comedy group 2150 Studios published a post on Facebook^[8] apologizing for causing the Berg family distress with the video, claiming they knew noting about Berg's disappearance they produced the sketch in 2009 (shown below).