Case file
Key facts
- Name: Renzo Bullhead (also written “Renzo Bull Head” in early tribal releases)
- Age at disappearance: 20
- Missing since: March 16, 2025
- Location: Mandan, North Dakota — last seen walking east on the railroad bridge over the Missouri River toward Bismarck
- Description: 5 feet 11 inches tall, about 180 pounds, black hair, brown eyes. Last seen wearing a black puffer jacket, a black sweatshirt, black-and-white checkered pants and white-and-red Jordan basketball shoes, holding what appears to be a cell phone.
- Status: Still missing — the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit lists his case as open, and Buffalo’s Fire confirmed on the one-year anniversary, March 16, 2026, that he remains missing with no new leads
- Investigating agency: Mandan Police Department, (701) 667-3250; BIA OJS Missing and Murdered Unit tip line 1-833-560-2065 (or text BIAMMU to 847411)
Seen entering the bridge. Never seen leaving it.
Renzo Bullhead, 20, was a welding student at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, home on spring break. On the evening of Sunday, March 16, 2025, his mother, Diedra Leaf, dropped him off with two friends in Mandan at about 6:30 p.m. At about 8 p.m., security cameras recorded him walking east on the railroad bridge that crosses the Missouri River from Mandan to Bismarck — dark clothes, checkered pants, a phone in his hand.
That footage is the last known sighting of him. The cameras show him entering the bridge. They do not show him exiting on the Bismarck side, and they do not show him coming back. His family believes he was using the bridge — a familiar crossing for local people — to reach friends in a nearby trailer park on the other side.
The splash no one can explain
Three months after Bullhead disappeared, the Mandan Police Department released 77 hours of surveillance video from that night in response to a public records request by Buffalo’s Fire. In footage from the east waterway camera on the Bismarck side, at 8:38 p.m. — roughly 20 minutes after Bullhead crossed under the camera at the opposite end — a sizable splash rises out of the Missouri River near the shore. The water foams, sprays high, churns briefly, and settles. The footage is too dark to show what caused it.
Mandan Police have not said what they believe caused the splash. Leaf has seen the footage and is careful about it: “It doesn’t show him in there for certain. It could be a lot of things, maybe a rock someone threw in. Maybe even a fish, jumping.” She does not believe her son jumped, and she does not believe he was suicidal: “My son is not suicidal.” Police have denied rumors that the case is being treated as a suicide, and say no conclusions have been made. The family has repeatedly asked for camera footage from Steamboat Park, on the Bismarck side in the direction Bullhead was headed; the Bismarck Parks and Recreation District told Buffalo’s Fire it does not hold footage from before January 31, 2026.
A search that has never really stopped
The first search was one of the largest in the area’s memory. A Standing Rock Sioux Tribe briefing on March 22, 2025, counted nearly 100 volunteers from tribes and communities across North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota — boats, drones, horse units and search dogs, with the Mandan and Bismarck police departments, the North Dakota Highway Patrol, the Spirit Lake Tribe, the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation’s boats and sonar, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Standing Rock watercraft and water-scent bloodhounds from Minnesota. United Tribes Technical College opened its campus as the search base.
Searches continued through 2025. On October 30, 2025, more than 70 people joined a renewed 10-hour search along the Missouri River around Fort Rice, spanning some 40 miles, led by Travis Bateman of Badlands Search and Rescue — the volunteer nonprofit’s sixth search for Bullhead. His four brothers were among the searchers. At the one-year mark in March 2026, Mandan Police Lieutenant Brent Wilmeth said the department plans to search the river again once the ice melts: “It’s a horrible tragedy, and we haven’t forgotten about Renzo. We will definitely be back out looking and searching once we can have access to the river.” The family has issued an updated flyer with photographs of Bullhead’s tattoos to help identification, and planned a prayer walk in McLaughlin, South Dakota, his hometown.
Bullhead is the second oldest of five boys — an athlete, a former high school football quarterback in McLaughlin, a powwow chicken dancer. He studied welding at UTTC and, his mother says, planned to move to Texas with his partner after graduating, or join the Army. “His brothers miss him,” Leaf told Buffalo’s Fire on the anniversary. “His family misses him, his friends miss him, they all miss him.”
What is not known
Almost everything after 8 p.m. on March 16, 2025. Whether Bullhead reached the Bismarck side. What caused the 8:38 p.m. splash. Whether he is in the river at all. His family says the released footage has raised more questions than it answered, and investigators say no new leads have surfaced in a year of searching. No report of him being found — alive or deceased — has ever been made.
Have information?
Contact the Mandan Police Department at (701) 667-3250, or the BIA OJS Missing and Murdered Unit at 1-833-560-2065 (text BIAMMU to 847411, or email ojs_mmu@bia.gov). In an emergency, dial 911. As his mother puts it: “If you know something, say something.”
Timeline
- March 16, 2025, ~6:30 p.m. — Bullhead’s mother drops him off with two friends in Mandan; he is on spring break from United Tribes Technical College.
- March 16, 2025, ~8:00 p.m. — Surveillance footage shows him walking east on the railroad bridge from Mandan toward Bismarck. He is never seen exiting the bridge.
- March 16, 2025, 8:38 p.m. — A large, unexplained splash appears on the Bismarck-side river camera. Its cause remains unknown.
- March 21–22, 2025 — Search headquarters at United Tribes Technical College; the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reports nearly 100 volunteers, boats, drones, horses and dogs searching.
- June 5, 2025 — Mandan Police release 77 hours of surveillance video to Buffalo’s Fire under a public records request, bringing the splash footage to light.
- October 30, 2025 — Renewed 10-hour, 40-mile search along the Missouri River led by Badlands Search and Rescue — its sixth search for Bullhead.
- March 16, 2026 — One year on: Buffalo’s Fire confirms Bullhead is still missing; Mandan Police say river searches will resume after the ice melts; the family circulates an updated flyer showing his tattoos.
- Today — Still missing. The BIA case remains open and no report of him being found exists.
FAQ
Is Renzo Bullhead still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026 he remains missing. Buffalo’s Fire marked the one-year anniversary on March 16, 2026, reporting no new leads, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs lists his Missing and Murdered Unit case as open.
When and where was Renzo Bullhead last seen?
On the evening of March 16, 2025, walking east across the railroad bridge over the Missouri River from Mandan toward Bismarck, North Dakota, at about 8 p.m. Surveillance footage shows him entering the bridge; it never shows him leaving it.
What happened to Renzo Bullhead?
Nobody knows. Searchers have covered the river and its banks repeatedly without finding him. A splash recorded on a river camera at 8:38 p.m. that night has never been explained, and police say they have made no conclusions about what happened.
What did Renzo Bullhead look like?
He is 5’11”, about 180 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. When last seen he wore a black puffer jacket, a black sweatshirt, black-and-white checkered pants and white-and-red Jordan basketball shoes. His family has published photos of his tattoos to help with identification.
Who is investigating?
The Mandan Police Department, (701) 667-3250, together with the BIA Office of Justice Services Missing and Murdered Unit, tip line 1-833-560-2065.
How can I help?
Share his BIA case page and his family’s updated flyer, especially in the Bismarck–Mandan and Standing Rock areas, and pass any information — however small — to the Mandan Police Department or the BIA tip line.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Missing & Murdered case page for Renzo Bullhead (missing March 16, 2025, Mandan, ND; description 5’11”, 180 lbs, black hair, brown eyes; Mandan Police Department and BIA OJS Missing and Murdered Unit; tips 1-833-560-2065). Case listed as open, rechecked October 20, 2026.
- Official / tribal: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, “Press Release for Missing Young Person Renzo Bull Head” (March 22, 2025 — search briefing, ~100 volunteers, participating agencies and tribes).
- News: Buffalo’s Fire, “Renzo Bullhead missing: last seen on Bismarck-Mandan bridge” (March 16, 2026 — one-year anniversary; still missing; family and Mandan PD Lieutenant Brent Wilmeth interviews).
- News: Buffalo’s Fire, “What caused a splash in the Missouri River the night Renzo Bullhead disappeared?” (June 2025 — the 8:38 p.m. splash in the 77 hours of released surveillance video) and “Community unites in hope of finding Renzo Bullhead before winter” (October 30, 2025 — the Badlands Search and Rescue search).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 20, 2026.