In a rare move, the Anchorage Police Department flew two detectives to the Norton Sound village of Shaktoolik to continue investigating the death of Kelly Hunt. The 19-year-old went missing in Anchorage in January while traveling back to college in Soldotna. Her remains were found in a ravine after the snow had begun to melt three months later.
APD Chief Sean Case said the detectives from the department flew to the village aboard a U.S. Marshals Service aircraft in late September.
“It's not something we do every day,” Case said. “When we get enough information to travel and take the investigation as far as we can, we certainly do that.”
Case characterized the relationship with the U.S. Marshals Service as a "partnership" and said the federal agency offered the aircraft, a pilot and a deputy marshal to support the Shaktoolik trip.
Hunt was found a few blocks from the house she was last seen at. According to the State Medical Examiner’s Office, Hunt died from hypothermia and had alcohol in her system. Case said the person who gave Hunt that alcohol remains a major unresolved question.
“If we can uncover that question, we're also going to get more of the story,” he said.
That question led investigators back to Hunt’s home village of Shaktoolik. There, an investigator from APD met with Hunt’s family and friends to learn more about the moments leading up to her disappearance.
APD’s initial response to the case drew criticism from Missing and Murdered Indigenous People advocates, who felt the department didn’t respond fast enough. Case said one lesson learned was a need to communicate more frequently with family and media.
“The outcry and the questions and the concern that we saw around the state definitely caused us to go outside of what we normally do, which is provide continuing updates, even if to some it may seem like not that big of an update,” Case said.
When asked if a suspect had been identified, Case declined to comment and said the investigation remains open.
