Badlands SAR leads late season search for missing 20 year-old North Dakota man
Badlands Search and Rescue, based out of Watford City, N.D., was contacted by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST) and requested to lead another effort in finding the man, Renzo Bullhead, 20, who disappeared on March 16, 2025, and was last seen crossing the railroad bridge spanning the Missouri River between Bismarck and Mandan.
This was the sixth search operation that Badlands SAR has been involved in since the date of disappearance and the first where the team was asked to be the command team.
A unified command structure was established between SRST and Badlands SAR with personnel from each making up the command team.
Other organizations, county, tribal, state, and federal assets were also recruited to make the search happen.
A briefing was conducted on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at the Prairie Knights Casino pavilion and the search operation began at 7 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30, and concluded at 7 p.m.
Teams consisting of watercraft with sonar, human remains detection canines, mounted horse search teams, aerial drones, state aircraft, ATVs, and 40 personnel with an additional 80 citizen volunteers were assigned duties and areas covering two search segments spanning twenty miles of river each.
The river from the Bismarck area and downstream twenty miles to the Fort Rice vicinity were all searched with negative findings of any clues. Some canine and sonar data was worthy of note for actionable information that was forwarded to the local team that has diver and submersible drone abilities, Burleigh County Water Rescue.
Resources came from as far west as the Blackfeet Nation and as far east as the Spirit Lake Nation. The North Dakota Highway Patrol and North Dakota Game & Fish assigned their airplanes to the search for the day.
Source: Badlands SAR
For the full story, visit www.watfordcitynd.com and subscribe to the McKenzie County Farmer today!