What began as a routine effort to clear out a deceased relative’s Alaska home turned into a startling discovery for one family: human remains hidden on the property.
The unsettling find was reported to police on July 19, after a person discovered the remains inside a chest freezer located in a locked outbuilding along Glacier Highway, the Juneau Police Department said in a news release. Family members had been sorting through the residence after a death in the family when they came across the freezer.
Investigators said the remains are believed to be those of an adult male relative, though official identification is still pending through the State Medical Examiner’s Office. Authorities have not yet determined how long the body may have been stored there.
Police also noted a striking detail in the case: “Investigators have determined that no missing person’s report related to the deceased was ever filed with the Juneau Police Department.”
Deputy Police Chief Krag Campbell told the Juneau Independent that the man is believed to have been between 50 and 80 years old. While investigators did not observe obvious signs of knife or gunshot injuries, Campbell said it remains too early to determine whether foul play played a role.
“The biggest kind of unknown is ‘When did they get put in the freezer?’” Campbell told Alaska Public Media. “That’s going to help pinpoint our investigation and do that as well as collecting evidence to see who might have done this.”
Campbell said the circumstances are highly uncommon for the area, adding, “I can only speak for Juneau, but [this is] very unusual, not something I’ve seen or heard of before.”
Police have said there is currently no known danger to the public.
“Anytime we have somebody missing, someone’s immediately jumping to ‘there’s a serial killer on the loose,’” Campbell told the Juneau Independent. “We’re really just trying to say this probably seems isolated based off of a family member to the person who found them in the home where they’re associated with. It’s not like some random person is in the fridge. We’re trying to indicate it’s isolated to this one core event and this one family.”
A spokesperson for the Juneau Police Department and the Alaska State Medical Examiner’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Oxygen.
