After a Teen Disappeared, a “Friend” Told Her Parents a Disturbing Story

Kayla Berg lived in Antigo, Wisconsin with her mom, Hope, and her older brother, Jimmy. Ever since she was a little girl, Kayla trained in gymnastics. In high school, she found a new passion for dance and aspired to become a choreographer. However, Kayla wouldn’t even make it to graduation. She disappeared just two weeks before she could celebrate her sweet sixteen and nearly 14 years later, her whereabouts remain a mystery.

The Party House

Kayla was a particularly good student but her grades began to decline in 2009 after her parents separated and her father, James, was diagnosed with cancer. Upset with her father’s declining health, Kayla started spending less time on her studies and more time partying with her friends to cope.

Kayla and her friends often went to a “party house” in the neighboring town of Wausau, 34 miles away. The house was owned by Kayla’s secret boyfriend, 19-year-old Miguel Marrero, and unbeknownst to her parents, she attended *a lot* of underage drinking parties there with her brother Jimmy, and Jimmy’s best friend, 24-year-old Kevin J. Kielcheski.

Kayla was a minor so when her parents found out about Miguel and their 4-year age difference, they told her to break things off immediately. While some say that Kayla did as her parents asked, others say the opposite.

Kayla Disappears — Twice

On August 10, 2009, Kayla told her mom that she was going to spend the night at her friend Natasha’s while Natasha told her parents she was sleeping over at Kayla’s. In reality, the girls went to the party house.

The next morning, Kayla didn’t return home on time and since she didn't have a cellphone, her mom couldn’t get in contact with her. Instead, Hope called several of Kayla’s friends and some of them told her about Miguel’s party house in Wausau. Prior to this, Hope didn’t know anything about it.

Moments before Hope was about to report Kayla missing, she walked in the door, claiming she had lost track of time. Upset, Hope sat Kayla down and told her that she was not allowed to go to Wausau — or any underage parties. Kayla promised she wouldn’t go back to the party house, however, she disappeared again that same night, and this time, she wouldn’t return.

Kayla was supposed to spend that night at her dad’s but she left at 9 pm, claiming she was going to hang out with Kevin for a couple of hours.

When James woke up the next morning and realized his daughter still wasn’t home, he called Kevin. Kevin said that Kayla asked him to drop her off at a friend’s house in Wausau which he did at 10:30 pm. When James asked for the address, Kevin said he had no idea because he had followed Kayla’s directions. Kevin claimed he had never been to the house before.

James called Hope assuming that Kayla had gone back to her mom’s house but that wasn’t the case. Still, they decided not to report her missing right away, in case she had simply lost track of time again. However, after six days of inquiring with Kayla’s friends and searching on their own, there was no sign of her anywhere and they finally reported her missing.

The last confirmed sighting of Kayla was at 9:30 pm when she stopped at McDonald’s to visit her friend Beth. Kayla and Beth chatted while Kevin waited in his truck. Kayla told Beth that their plan for the night was to smoke weed and drive around. Before she got back into Kevin’s truck, Kayla told Beth she would call her later that night. That call never came.

Two Suspects —Which One Is Lying?

Kevin J. Kielcheski

When questioned by the authorities, Kevin repeated the same story — that he didn’t know which house he had dropped Kayla off at in Wausau. Kevin described the house and the route he took to get there from Antigo. He said all the lights were off and that it appeared as though no one was home. Nonetheless, he drove away without waiting for Kayla to walk inside.

Investigators put the pieces together and determined that the house Kevin was talking about was the party house owned by Kayla’s [ex?]-boyfriend, Miguel Marrero. However, there were several problems with Kevin’s story.

For one, the house had been condemned by the city weeks earlier and Miguel had already moved to another house 1 mile away. Kayla and her friends knew about the move, and they partied at Miguel’s new house the night before she disappeared — in fact, Miguel’s sister told the police that it was Kevin who dropped Kayla and her friend Natasha off. According to other mutual friends, Kevin knew exactly where the party house was and he was the one who usually drove Kayla and her brother Jimmy there.

If Kayla knew Miguel had moved, why would she ask Kevin to drop her off at his old house? Plus, she was terrified of the dark and likely would not have wanted to be at a creepy, abandoned home all by herself, without a cell phone. Some wonder if Kayla even made it to Wausau, at all.

Kevin said he dropped Kayla off at 10:30 pm. The drive back to his house is roughly 1 hour and his mother said she saw him inside their home at midnight. Unless his mother was covering for him, the timeline made sense. However, when faced with inconsistencies in his story, Kevin refused to speak with the police any further and he quickly hired a lawyer.

Kevin’s jeep was searched and some unknown items of interest were sent off for DNA testing. The results have not been revealed to the public.

In October 2009, Kevin was charged with Reckless Endangerment of a Minor after he admitted to smoking weed with Kayla the night she was last seen. However, the charges were dropped in 2011 due to a lack of evidence.

In December 2009, investigators deployed 10 cadaver dogs in a lineup of 10 vehicles without informing the handler of any background information and the dogs reportedly detected decomposition inside Kevin’s Jeep.

Unfortunately, all of the evidence is circumstantial and Kevin was never charged in relation to Kayla’s disappearance. He went on to have a child who today would be just a few years shy of Kayla’s age when she vanished.

Miguel Marrero

Miguel told investigators he hadn’t seen or spoken with Kayla in a week (since the party at his new house) and phone records backed up his statement. However, it turned out that Miguel had a second cellphone that pinged off a tower 40 miles north of Wausau the night Kayla disappeared and it received two unanswered calls between 1 am and 2:30 am.

Miguel refused to tell the police who the calls were from. While it’s possible Kayla borrowed a phone to call him, it’s also possible that Miguel was involved in other things he didn’t want the authorities to know about and that the calls had absolutely nothing to do with Kayla’s disappearance.

When questioned about the calls, Miguel hired a lawyer and stopped cooperating with the investigation. The police searched the condemned party house as well as his vehicle but they did not find anything of interest.

The Search Continues 14 Years Later

James Berg passed away on June 15, 2011, without ever finding out what happened to his only daughter. On his deathbed, he asked Hope to do everything in her power to bring their baby girl back home. Nearly 14 years later, Hope is still trying to follow through on her promise.

Kayla was last seen wearing a red tank top, a blue hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, tan sandals, and a silver necklace. Today, she would be 29 years old.

“This is an ongoing nightmare, it never stops and I can never wake up from it. I will never give up. I will never quit. She is always on my mind and in my heart.”— Hope Sprenger, Kayla’s mother

If you have a tip, contact Antigo PD at 715-627-6411. A $20,000 reward is being offered by the FBI for any information leading to Kayla Berg.