Jael Tiara Hamblen (Anchorage, Alaska, 2014). Such was the case with Sandra Lee Davis and her husband, John. "Alaska's Dirty Dozen," by Tom Brennan. His eighth victim survived. Some Alaska serial killers include Robert Hansen, who killed almost 20 young women over the course of 10 years; Thomas Richard Bunday, who killed 4 women and an 11-year-old girl from 1979 to 1981; and James Dale Richie, who is known to have killed up to 5 people prior to his arrest. They have DNA evidence but no source for it yet, according to Fox 10 Phoenix. Crime in Alaska, specifically Alaska homicide, is shockingly high in larger cities with higher populations, such as Anchorage or Juneau, which can be expected. Amy and Scott Fandel (Sterling, Alaska, 1978) The disappearance of Amy and Scott Fandel is as baffling as it is sad. The most infamous true crime stories in Alaska notoriously can be and have been linked back to serial killers. Years later, an old girlfriend of Rogers would ask Terry for $5,000. There are, however, more murders in Anchorage, Alaska, and murders in Juneau, Alaska, which can be expected due to their populations. Historians Don't Actually Believe Frank Sheeran Killed Jimmy Hoffa. But Brennan, who sticks to straight reporting in these accounts, doesnt delve into the legitimate privacy concerns raised by the practice. HAWAII: Lisa Au's murder has been called "one of Hawaii's biggest unsolved mysteries" by local news station KHON2. After passing a lie detector test, however, investigators shifted their focus elsewhere. 1929: Isidor Fink. Israel Keyess 2012 abduction and murder of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig is a crime that is covered very often in many different true crime podcasts, including Crime Junkie and The Voiceless, among many others which cover the life and crimes of Israel Keyes. If you know of any more unsolved mysteries in Alaska, leave us the story in a comment, we would love to hear more of these unsettling tales! In the morning, she went to work as usual. Mrs. Phoebe May Short, Elizabeth Short's mother, sits with her son-in-law and daughter. The case remained unsolved for decades, until the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office took another crack at the Walker family murders case. 2023 Sharing Alaska. Easy accessibility = easy widespread awareness. Residents of the fishing village of Craig have heard all the theories about who committed the horrible crimes that obliterated an entire family. Fifteen murders have been committed since the end of June. 1. Rapper Tupac Shakur was killed on September 7, 1996, at 25 years old. When he called his friends room, a man, who Guernsey stated sounded nothing like Nuzzi, answered the phone. Dogs tried to track her scent, at one point leading authorities to a pay phone down that road which John Davis said his wife had used the night before her disappearance. So, what exactly are the statistics, and why is Alaskas crime rate so high? All of the bodies were found along major highways, suggesting that they were hitchhiking or working in prostitution, according to the Gasden Times. All the Sixty years later, his identity and that of his killer hasn't been discovered. A fire broke out in the Sodder home on Christmas Eve in 1945. The exact number of victims is unknown, but it could be as many as 11 women. In February 1984, Hansen plead guilty to killing four women and was sentenced to more than 400 years in prison. Oh, and rife with horrific Alaskan crimes. The man continued to the dock and after talking to a few people disappeared into the city of Craig never to be identified. The women had all been involved with sex work, and cocaine residue was found in each of their systems, suggesting that the killer targeted women from the underground drug trade along Cache Road in Lawton. The cold case is the subject of the book "Who Killed Betty Gail Brown" by Robert G. Lawson. She was found dead the next morning, with a small inflatable dingy beached approximately one mile from where the yacht was anchored. Some of the most prolific Alaska serial killers include Robert Hansen, who killed almost 20 young women over the course of 10 years; Thomas Richard Bunday, who killed 4 women and an 11-year-old girl from 1979 to 1981; and James Dale Richie, who is known to have killed up to 5 people prior to his arrest. After a day at work in 2012, 18-year-old Vanessa "Honey" Malone told her mother, Flora, that she was going out, NBC News reports. Conspiracy theories abound for why this is. On a boat called The Investor, Mark . Her body was found a week later inBlue Island with a rope from the family's garage tied around her neck. Her family, having not heard from her in weeks, reported her missing on September 7th. On June 6, 1984, 12-year-old Greenville native Sherry Lynn Marler went into town with her stepfather to run errands. The foggy morning on the last day of opening season Coulthurts ship sat anchored in the cove instead of joining in with the rest of the fleet. When she called the school, however, she learned Amy and Scott hadnt attended. Steven Pearsall and Christina White remain missing. ", In the 1970s, '80s, and even into the '90s, bodies of redheaded women were found in Memphis, Jellico, Ashland City, and Greenville, Tennessee, as well as Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania. Anchorage with 32. More Jimmy Hoffa. And today, no one has been formally charged. According to the arrest warrant, his fingerprint had been found at the scene, People magazine reported. Police believe to know the name of the serial killer who buried six bodies in a crawlspace underneath a house inNiagara, North Dakota Eugene Butler, who was committed to an insane asylum in 1906. The only rent he paid was for a storage unit in Anchorage. The search was so unsuccessful, in fact, that Congress passed a law mandating that all civil aircraft in the U.S. be fitted with Emergency Locator Transmitters. While the, stopped in Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan, Carver would never see those places. [1] Victims believed or known to have been murdered by the same perpetrator (s) are grouped together. I think that was the problem," Indianapolis Police Department Captain Robert Snow told Fox59. Without telling her family, she boarded the vessel in Seattle, Washington on August 27th, 2004 and was last seen by a cabin attendant the next day. So the question has to be asked: what happened to Merrian Lynn Carver between August 27. As youll see on this list, some defy explanation or even logic. She stayed in the car while he went to look for help. Alaska is a vast place. More than 200,000 unsolved cases have gone cold since 1980, and murder clearance rates continue to drop. Police believe to know the name of the serial killer who buried six bodies in a crawlspace underneath a house in Niagara, North Dakota Eugene Butler, who was committed to an insane asylum in 1906. Jessica Gutierrez, 4, was kidnapped from her bed onJune 6, 1986, in the Red Bank area of Lexington County, South Carolina. A five-part Showtime documentary "Murder in the Bayou" profiled the cases and featured footage of one of the victims, Necole Jean Guillory, telling investigators about rampant misconduct and trafficking inside the jail. The vast wilderness that exists in our great state is one of the unique things about Alaska. Editor's Note: Twenty four years ago this week, one of the worst mass murders in Alaska history took place in Craig on the west side of Prince of Wales Island. I think that was the problem, Steven Fisher, 20, and his girlfriend Melisa Gregory, 17, She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed 18 times, the evidence against him was circumstantial. Maybe his name was John, maybe it was Jack. Johnson encountered 50 below zero temperatures and had communication difficulties with the the trio, who sometimes spoke in their native language, leaving the young man convinced they were mocking him. police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro said police always try to determine if unsolved crimes are related. When Sessions decided to open it years later, he found human bones. Israel Keyes is prominent on every list of serial killers in Alaska or Alaska serial killer list. Celebrity Cruise, who owns the Mercury, didnt come under suspicion until Carvers father found out about his daughters vacation and called the cruise line. There was also no evidence of anyone else at the crime scene. The case of Nancy Probst's murder still remains unsolved. According to the Lexington Herald Leader, her mysterious killer became "a mythological figure in Lexington, a kind of all-purpose boogeyman." Radio silence fell and the N720 dropped off the grid on their return trip to the lake. 1 The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders. Hansen, the owner of a popular Alaskan bakery, regularly prowled the streets of downtown Anchorage in search of women working as prostitutes or exotics dancers whom he was able to convince to be alone with him. Doug Cleaves was murdered Oct. 19, 1985. This is a state of extremes and if not properly prepared, and sometimes even if you are properly prepared, there can be accidents that are frankly unavoidable. The killer said he had seen the victims Oregon drivers license. 2022 Anchorage Daily News. Today, with no known family, its likely that we will never have answers. Hours later, her car was found parked along the highway in Kailua, and her decomposing body was found 10 days later. In 1981, Hollywood starlet Natalie Wood boarded her private yacht, Splendour, with her husband and captain Dennis Davern. This time, she didnt. He can be reached at [email protected]. A scene from Jack The Ripper, 1959. When a woman walking her dog found a human bone in 2009, she had no idea she had come across one of the biggest crime scenes in US history. His body was found floating in the Strong River, and his truck was found riddled with bullet holes, set on fire, and pushed down a ravine. In 1982, . Thomas Nuzzi and the couple havent been seen since. The bodies had only been found after Butler's death. More than 50 years later, police still don't know who did it. The pairs respective children were being looked after by Kendras mother. Most damning of all, the company told Carver that security tapes were regularly erased every 12 days. For more reading on the Last . 22 | The Setagaya Family Massacre. It was the biggest mass murder in Alaskan history and rocked the small fishing town of Craig, where it took place. Over 300 square miles were searched by plane and by foot but there were never any findings of Rhode or the plane. South central Alaska murders are more common than in other locations in the state, because the majority of Alaskas population lives in this area, surrounding Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska. Although these only include a few Alaska killers, the most famous Alaska serial killer is, without a doubt, Israel Keyes. The book details the murders aboard the fishing vessel Investor. The trial remains ongoing. Peel was acquitted but taken to court again, lasting the longest of any trail held in Alaska. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. In 1985, two couples disappeared in the wooded areas of Pierce and Lewis counties. Witnesses say that they saw her standing next to a maroon car driven by a man in his 30s on August 9, 1970. as of August 2022, 30 degrees with freezing rain? Are the Sodder children still out there somewhere? The next day, he reported her missing. Eight women from the Jefferson Davis Parish in Louisiana were found dead in swamps and canals between 2005 and 2009 around Jennings, Louisiana. Somewhere between there and Anchorage, the plane seemed to vanish. Theres A Bermuda Triangle In Alaska And It Will Baffle You Beyond Words. Surprisingly, the overall crime rate in Alaska as well as the homicide rate in Alaska are very high, regardless of the states relatively low population when compared to other states in the United States. Her family, having not heard from her in weeks, reported her missing on September 7. , didnt come under suspicion until Carvers father found out about his daughters vacation and called the cruise line. Rhode, who was the Regional Director of Fish and Wildlife, took a small bush pilot out along with him and his son to make several stops before flying back toward Porcupine Lake. It's been almost 40 years since the fire, the investigation and the discovery of the largest mass murder in the history of the state of Alaska. JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her family's home on December 26, 1996. 3. Mary Badaracco disappeared on August 19, 1984. The two masked killers used a handcart to wheel the store safe out of the building and fled in Reese's car. Breaking these numbers down even more, we can look at the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Uniform Crime Report (UCR). Soon after, he was cleared as a suspect. In an area on the border between Idaho and Washington known as the Lewiston-Clarkson metropolitan area, a series of murders and disappearances between 1979 and 1982 remain unsolved. The disappearence of Merrian Lynn Carver is one fraught with mystery. On August 4, 1892, Andrew Jackson Borden and his second wife, Abby, were bludgeoned to death with an ax, New England Today reports. Haataja had attempted suicide before, leading some to believe that he took his own life. Barring the rumor mill, people disappear up here whether theyre in the forest or downtown. More than 30 years later, Fisher's estranged wife was charged with first-degree murder. In January 2022, Thomas McDowell was arrested and charged with burglary, kidnapping and murder. A squirrel hunter was taken into custody and questioned, but DNA evidence exonerated him in 1987. Out of all the cases on our list, the case of Thomas Nuzzi is definitely the eeriest. He had been on his way to the bank when he was shot and robbed of $10,000. Although a suspect was eventually arrested, both trials ended without a conviction- and the Investor case is still the largest unsolved murder in Alaska state history. Some of the victims couldn't even be identified due to their incomplete remains. This one was different. Prichard was pursuing amaster's degree in botany at the University of Maryland, and visited Blackbird State Forest many times for her research, according to Delaware Online. Photo: Mugshot from the Sunbury Police Department. They got home and, after Kendra went to bed, Jael decided to go out again. biggest unsolved murders in alaska : Detectives say there were signs of a struggle, but are withholding the cause of death at this time. The Connecticut River Killer was profiled on "Unsolved Mysteries" and "THS Investigates.". Despite this, Davis body has never been recovered. Veteran journalist Tom Brennan has been telling that part of our story for many years now, both in books and newsprint. The killer may have impersonated a police officer. Erin Marie Gilbert (Girdwood, Alaska, 1995). Following his arrest, Keyes committed suicide on December 2, 2012in an Anchorage jail, guaranteeing he will never be able to take the life of another victim. Cheryl Henry, 22, and Andy Atkinson, 21, drove into a secluded patch of woods in Houston dubbed a "lovers' lane" on August 22, 1990. On March 12, 1978, Chad Burgett returned home to Phoenix after a weekend away with his mother to find his sister, Pauline Robbin, murdered with multiple stab wounds. They would come back some 4 hours later to find a pot of water boiling on the stove next to an unopened box of macaroni and cheese and a can of tomatoes. The elder Johnson arranged for him to accompany three Alaska Native men from the village of Kiana on a winter caribou trip. Author Joseph Citro coined the term "Bennington Triangle" in 1992. The Herald Leader also called her murder "Lexington's most notorious cold case.". Billie-Jo Jenkins was just 13-years old when she was found in a pool of blood in the back garden of foster father Sion Jenkins' house in Hastings, East Sussex, on February 15 . According to Barbour, she started killing victims when she was living in Alaska, and she went on to murder people in North Carolina, California, and Texas. The victim and the killer still remain unidentified. It was computer databases that picked up a similar killing there to those in Fairbanks and led investigators to his doorstep. Although it remains Alaska's biggest unsolved murder case, the state troopers who worked it consider the matter wrapped up (albeit very messily). The murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas in 1996 remains the state's most high-profile unsolved mystery. The case remains unsolved. Although at first glance, crimes in Alaska are not statistically more significant than other states, it is very important to remember that the total population of Alaska is much smaller than that of Rhode Island, the smallest state in the United States. A traveling nurse, Nuzzi was well-versed in the state. coined the term "Bennington Triangle" in 1992. asking Russia to view satellite footage of the area, the women had tube socks tied around their necks, left an old trunk in his friendNewell Sessions' shed inThermopolis in1986. The two went to the Girdwood Forest Fair, a local music and crafts fair, on a date. Although photos regarding crimes are often not released to the public, especially if the case has not been solved, there are plenty of resources, including news articles and law enforcement press releases available to the public in order for you to learn more information regarding a specific murder in Juneau or any other city in Alaska. Nancy Grace featured the cold case in 2010, and the family received a new home on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" in 2012. While he went to the bank to sign some papers, he gave her a dollar to buy a soda from a vending machine and told her to meet him back at his truck in 15 minutes. He was finally declared dead seven years later in 1982, though his body was never recovered, and speculations as to what happened abound to this day. Brennan offers these and other tales in a book that delves into the events that have made Alaska so violent. The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Alaska For 2022. underground drug trade along Cache Road in Lawton. Her parents were brought to trial, but they were acquitted due to insufficient evidence. over 200 Million views and Of those murders, the CDC's report on Homicides of American Indians/Alaska Natives, found that the homicide rate was three times higher in Alaska Natives and American . The vanishing harbor seal is not the only mystery of Lake Iliamna deep waters. Then Mike Riemer disappeared, while his girlfriend, Diana Robertson, was found dead. most-covered, watched and listened-to case in the recent history of the state. She opened the door to a man sitting on the bed. The case remains unsolved. Some of them are even serial killers. An unidentified man in a red truck who was seen driving away around the same time Nick disappeared was deemed a suspect, but after countless leads, authorities are no closer to finding her. In actuality, they were erased every 30 days. To this day no one knows the fate of the Baychimo or why it could never be captured. Brandon Irlmeier's death is just one of 4,200 cases involving murdered and missing Alaska Natives that have gone unsolved, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Police think that whoever killed the 16-year-oldknew her. 1982 Investor murders remains unsolved. Alaska is a sprawling state with a population about the size of Seattle, but a staggering 59 percent of adult women in Alaska have . While there had previously been active serial killers in the area, none had used the method of operation from event to event. $15.95. Its nothing to take pride in, but its part of our story. 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