Chandler had big ambitions – he talked of getting his IT degree, of his promising internship at an insurance company, and was especially excited about a new job he landed at Space X—founded by one of the richest people in the world, Elon Musk. Bart and Krista Halderson Dane County Sheriff’s Office Everything seemed to be going well for the Haldersons. So, on Friday morning, July 2, when Krista just didn’t show up at the office, Daniel Kroninger remembers becoming concerned. Erin Moriarty: How unusual was it for, number one, for Krista not to show up for work, not to call and just not show up? How unusual? Daniel Kroninger: Extremely unusual. Kroninger and Krista not only worked together, but they were also close friends. Daniel Kroninger: So, when she hadn’t said anything to me, I was like, “we’ll that’s kinda weird” you know … It wasn’t something that she would ever do. Kroninger says he texted and called her several times but got no response. Later that afternoon, he and his girlfriend drove over to the Halderson home. A neighbor’s security camera shows them arriving. Daniel Kroninger: You know, knocked on the door, didn’t hear anything … peered through the window. The only thing that seemed weird was there was a coffee table on its side. … you look through the door it was kinda off to the right over by … they had a fireplace over there. Then, Kroninger says, he walked over to the garage window. Daniel Kroninger: I looked in. Both cars were there. And I was like, “what?” You know, why are both cars here? And I was starting to go around the back of the house, and then Chandler came out the side door … and he came out in a towel saying, “Oh, I just got outta the shower,” you know, “hey what’s goin’ on?” I was like, “we’re just looking for Bart and Krista.” And he said, “Oh yeah, they went … had to go up north this morning for an emergency up at the cabin.” Kroninger says he was relieved to know that Bart and Krista were at the family cabin. Over the holiday weekend, he kept in touch with Chandler to see if he had heard from his mom and dad. Daniel Kroninger: He said, “yeah, they don’t have very good service up there so you kinda have to wait till the clouds clear before they get a message.” On Sunday July 4, Kroninger says Chandler called him and said he was “bored and needed something to do.” So, Dan invited him over to watch the fireworks and asked Chandler about his parents. Daniel Kroninger: He mentioned that he talked to them and they’re gonna be back Monday. Erin Moriarty: When he said that he talked to them, did he say, he talked to both his parents or just his mom? What did he say? Do you remember? Daniel Kroninger: I don’t think he was specific … I mean, I was asking about his mom because I knew she had a doctor’s appointment coming up that she was really, really wanted to be at. I think it had been rescheduled before. But Krista didn’t show up for work on Monday and again on Tuesday. By Wednesday July 7, when there was still no word. Dan knew something was wrong. Daniel Kroninger: And now she’s missed her appointment Erin Moriarty: So, now it’s all out concern. Daniel Kroninger: Right. Erin Moriarty: You know something’s happened to her now. Daniel Kroninger: Right, right. Kroninger pushed Chandler to file a missing person’s report that morning. Det. Sabrina Sims: Chandler Halderson walked into one of our precincts to report his parents missing. Detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Shunk with the Dane County Sheriff’s Office would lead the team to track down the missing couple. Det. Brian Shunk: We had a lot of detectives assisting us with the caseload. Their first stop: the Halderson home on Oak Spring Circle Drive Erin Moriarty: So, when you first got there, who was home? Det. Brian Shunk: It was just Chandler. Det. Sabrina Sims: We’re inside the house with him and detectives are getting information outside and so we’re either getting phone calls or text messages of you know “hey, maybe ask about this.” We’re walking around the house with him. He’s pointing out things at the house, things that were missing that his parents took when they traveled to the cabin. While deputies began interviewing neighbors and friends, Barbi Townsend, Krista’s first cousin, who lives in southern California, knew only what she had seen on the news: that the Halderson’s 23-year-old son Chandler had gone to the police telling them his parents were missing. Barbi Townsend: What does that mean? What does missing mean? And that they had gone up to our cabin … the family cottage and didn’t return. Bart and Krista had not mentioned to coworkers, or their older son Mitchell, that they’d been planning to go to the cabin that weekend. But according to Chandler, another couple, who he didn’t know, picked up his parents and drove them there. The cabin was a remote, rustic lakeside retreat, and a treasured family heirloom. Barbi and Krista’s grandparents built it in the 1940s. Barbi Townsend: You know, you start to think of crazy things cause our cabin’s up in the woods … and so we were worried are they being held hostage somewhere? … Are they tied up somewhere? The day after Chandler reported them missing, his brother Mitchell and his fiancée drove three hours up north to see if he could find any sign of his parents. Barbi Townsend: Why would they not call? Why wouldn’t there be a text or something? Barbi Townsend: Your mind starts to go down really murky trails because you are trying to figure out what’s going on. OFFICER (body cam): Hi there. MITCHELL HALDERSON’S FIANCÉE: Hi there. OFFICER: Are you guys uh … MITCHELL HALDERSON’S FIANCÉE: The Haldersons. OFFICER: You — OK you are affiliated with them? MITCHELL HALDERSON’S FIANCÉE: Yes. OFFICER: OK, maybe we could just take a walk around and see, you would know the property probably better than we would. The police met Mitchell and his fiancée at the cabin — prepared for the worst.
SEARCHING FOR KRISTA AND BART
When the Haldersons disappeared, it stunned everyone who knew them. Barbi Townsend said neither her cousin Krista nor her husband Bart would just leave on a whim Barbi Townsend: He was more structured. She was more nurturing – you know, indulging mom. It was a wonderful combination. She worked as a customer service representative for an auto body shop and loved art projects. He was a managing director for an international accounting firm and enjoyed woodworking. Barbi Townsend: They were 100 percent about family … and very involved in the scouting. Chandler, left, Bart, and Mitchell Halderson on Father’s Day 2021. Haldersons were together on Father’s Day in June 2021, less than a month before Bart disappeared. In a photo taken that day, Mitchell is smiling and Chandler, who had a mild concussion from a fall, is wearing a neck brace. Investigators, anxious to find out what had happened to Bart and Krista Halderson, asked deputies from the Langlade County Sheriff’s Office to help Mitchell, who brought along his fiancée, search the family’s cabin – a three-hour drive north of the family home. When they got inside, it was dark. There were no signs of Krista and Bart. They also checked a shed; the canoe was there. It was obvious. No one had been to the cabin in a very long time. OFFICER (body cam): They’re believed to be with another couple? MITCHELL HALDERSON: Someone else at least. OFFICER: OK. When Mitchell was with the police searching the family’s cabin, Chandler was on his own hunt throughout the neighborhood. He is seen on video doorbell cameras going door to door asking homeowners if they had seen or heard from his parents. As detectives began investigating Bart and Krista’s mysterious disappearance, Chandler Halderson knocked on neighbors’ doors asking if they’d seen or heard from his parents. Dane County Sheriff’s Office CHANDLER HALDERSON (doorbell camera video): It’s kinda difficult to track them down. Reporter Adam Duxter, now with CBS station WCCO in Minneapolis, worked in Madison, Wisconsin, at the time. He immediately started calling his sources. Adam Duxter: So, we’re waiting to hear back from the sheriff’s office, and my boss at the time, he was like, “Well you can’t just sit around, you gotta go start shooting something” … and so … packed my gear in my car and drove out to their street in Windsor. He knocked on the Halderson’s front door. The missing couple’s son Chandler answered. Adam Duxter: And, so, I’m like, “If you’d be willing … I’d love to do a quick interview” … And he was like, “Yeah, I’ll do that. … but I don’t want you got film me. I don’t want to be shown, but you can record my voice.” CHANDLER HALDERSON INTERVIEW AUDIO: So, my last message I got from them, they were going to White Lake for the Fourth of July … Other than that, their plan or from to my knowledge they were going to Langlade County to a cabin, their cabin … Adam Duxter: At the time, I got the sense that he was in shock … This is someone who is roughly my age … And so, I’m thinking like, “Yeah, if my parents just went missing” – he probably hasn’t slept, he’s probably really nervous. Alex Gravatt knew Chandler well. Alex Gravatt: I was roommates with Chandler for a little while. … I called him Chaz. The two friends shared an apartment from 2019 to 2020. Alex Gravatt: We grew up together and we played soccer together, did cub scouts together, and just hung out together. … he was a great swimmer, so I…
