By Kirsti Marohn, St. Cloud Times

MONTICELLO — Volunteers searching Sunday afternoon for a missing 24-year-old Austin native now living in St. Cloud found the body of a deceased male adult, the Wright County sheriff reported.

Sheriff Joe Hagerty issued a news release late Sunday that stated the body was discovered in a marsh south of Interstate Highway 94 near Dalton Avenue. It was located by volunteers from United Legacy Search, Rescue & Recovery, who had been searching the area for Tyler Berg.

The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office will be conducting an autopsy and making an identification, the sheriff reported.

On Sunday, volunteers combed woods and fields in search of Berg, who has been missing for a week.

All-terrain vehicles, mounted patrols, aerial drones and searchers on foot scoured an ever-growing area around Monticello for any traces of Berg. It was the third full day of the search, which has drawn hundreds of people wanting to help.

“We’ve been covering quite a bit of ground with the volunteers that have been showing up,” said Deanna Villella, president of the nonprofit United Legacy Search, Rescue & Recovery. About 60 volunteers showed up on Sunday, and close to 300 helped throughout the weekend, she said.

Berg was last seen in St. Cloud on Nov. 22. His black Mercury Cougar was found Monday near Otter Creek Park in Monticello. Articles of clothing believed to be his were found there and at the Monticello Country Club golf course.

The searchers start from ground zero, which is the last known place the missing person was seen, Villella said.

“We take from that area and we basically expand out north, east, south and west, and we canvass the area,” she said. “And we just keeping expanding, expanding, expanding.”

School buses were transporting searchers on Sunday morning from the Monticello Community Center to an area on the western edge of the city. About three dozen volunteers clad in bright-yellow vests spread out shoulder to shoulder.

Slowly, they entered a wooded area with dense underbrush, at times crawling on hands and knees to get through. It was tough going, with the branches snagging clothing and hair or leaving scratches across the volunteers’ faces.

They searched for any trace of Berg or anything that might have belonged to him, like a piece of clothing or a cell phone.

Tony Delhanty, Berg’s brother-in-law, said the family has no idea what happened to him.

“We really haven’t found anything,” Delhanty said. “So everything right now is still a mystery to us … Nothing is really adding up or making sense or giving us any direction as to which way he went or what happened.”

Berg is originally from Austin, Minnesota, and graduated from high school there, Delhanty said. He had lived in St. Cloud for about three months. Berg was planning to attend St. Cloud Technical & Community College next semester for computer science, Delhanty said.

Delhanty, who is married to Berg’s sister Allissa, described Berg as an energetic and charismatic guy who loves golf, fishing and baseball. Berg worked for Delhanty for a few months at his company.

“I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of devotion he has to the job he’s working on,” Delhanty said. He said Berg also cares a lot about his family and had a tight group of friends.

Delhanty said the family doesn’t have any theories about where Berg could be. He didn’t have any known mental health issues or other problems.

“That’s the greatest mystery — why was he even in this area, because he’s from St. Cloud,” Delhanty said.

Delhanty said the family appreciates the support and offers of help they’ve received.

“The community of Monticello has really been amazing,” Delhanty said. “And not only the people that know Tyler that have come together, but random strangers who don’t have to be here helping us. This is their weekend. They could be at home spending it with their families, but they’re coming here, donating food, donating drinks and more importantly, donating their time. It’s just amazing.”

The Wright County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information about Berg to call 763-682-7637.

Updates about the search can be found on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/HelpFindTylerBerg.

—Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.