Terry Brisk was 41 years old and hunting on his family's own property northeast of Little Falls, Minnesota, when someone fatally shot him with his own rifle on November 7, 2016. Ten years later to the day, the Morrison County Sheriff's Office is still asking the public for help, and the reward for information has just climbed to $50,000.
The case has haunted investigators for a decade in part because of how close the killer apparently got. According to MPR News, authorities have said evidence indicates the suspect was in close proximity to Brisk when he was killed and that the two likely interacted before the shooting. Despite that, the outlet reports that investigators have worked through numerous leads over the past ten years without making a single arrest.
The weapon itself added another strange wrinkle to the case. The rifle used to kill Brisk was initially reported missing after the shooting, but per the same MPR News account, it turned up the following year in 2017.
Reward Money Climbs as the Case Marks a Decade
The Morrison County Sheriff's Office announced this week that the reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Brisk's death has been raised to $50,000, according to MPR News. That figure represents a jump from the $30,000 reward that had stood for years; the Brainerd Dispatch reported that the increase to $50,000 came this month, noting that sheriff's investigators have continued pursuing new leads, evaluating information received from the public, and re-examining evidence and investigative findings even without a breakthrough.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has shared information about the case on Facebook. Individuals with information can contact the Morrison County Sheriff's Office at (320) 632-9233 to be eligible for the $50,000 reward. Tips can also go through Crime Stoppers of Minnesota, where all contacts can remain anonymous and tipsters may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000 if their information leads to an arrest. Tips can be submitted through CrimeStoppersMn.org, the Submit a Tip smartphone app, or by texting TIP674 to CRIMES (274637).
A Family Still Waiting for the Truth
Brisk's parents, Virgil and Babe, marked the ten-year anniversary with a statement describing a decade spent, in their words, living with the heartbreak of not knowing the truth about what happened to him, as reported by MPR News. The grief, they said, has never let up.
“We are simply a family begging for answers,” the Brisks said in their statement, issued through the sheriff's office. They made clear they are not interested in punishment for its own sake, telling anyone connected to the case: “We are not here to judge, argue, or seek revenge.”
The couple directed their plea at anyone who might know something, including whoever pulled the trigger. “If you were involved, if you witnessed something, or if you have carried a secret all these years, please find it in your heart to come forward,” they said, adding that “Terry loved and was loved; he mattered, and he deserves to have his story told.”
A Long, Difficult Investigation
The absence of witnesses has been one of the central obstacles from the start. A 2021 report from the Park Rapids Enterprise quoted then-Sheriff Shawn Larsen saying the lack of eyewitnesses was the biggest hurdle in the investigation, which he described as built on circumstantial evidence and a list of possible suspects. That same report noted the sheriff's office had brought on a recently retired investigator with more than 20 years of homicide experience to work the case.
Earlier reporting also pointed to a specific detail investigators wanted help tracking down. According to FOX 9, authorities had sought information about a blue van or minivan that may have been in the area the day Brisk was killed. A 2023 sheriff's release listed a $30,000 reward, underscoring just how long the case had sat without resolution before this week's increase.
Ten years on, the Morrison County Sheriff's Office says it is still working the case alongside the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. For Virgil and Babe Brisk, the message to whoever is holding onto the truth remains the same one they have carried since 2016: come forward, and help their family finally find peace.
