Wisconsin police: Video not linked to girl’s disappearance

ANTIGO, Wis. – A video posted online in 2009 that appears to show a captive woman is a fake and is not connected to the disappearance of a 15-year-old Wisconsin girl the same year, police said Wednesday.

The video shows a man talking to the camera about his new girlfriend, then shows a crying and apparently bound female. Kayla Berg, of Antigo, went missing a couple of months before the video was posted online.

A tip from the public led investigators to a man on the East Coast who acknowledged he produced the video, according to Antigo Police Chief Eric Roller. The man didn’t know the video had received so much attention and has apologized, Roller said.

“He did feel bad that it had gotten to this level,” Roller said. “He got a little bit of reality when we told him how it affects missing person cases.”

The video had about 940,000 views on YouTube before it was taken down Tuesday.

Roller says the video also generated about 250 tips to police.

“We need to look back at all the tips we got and go through them all and see if there’s something that relates to Kayla,” the chief said.

While the video producer may have violated YouTube policies, it’s unlikely he will face criminal charges, Roller said.