Posters for Kelly Hunt, a 19-year-old woman from Shaktoolik, remain up around Anchorage’s Spenard neighborhood where she was last seen three months ago, as her family and advocates continue pressing for answers.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Posters for Kelly Hunt , a 19-year-old woman from Shaktoolik, remain up around Anchorage’s Spenard neighborhood where she was last seen three months ago, as her family and advocates continue pressing for answers.
Hunt was traveling to Soldotna for a semester at Alaska Christian College when she stopped in Anchorage to stay with a friend from school. The friend, who asked to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, said the two had planned to get on the shuttle from Anchorage to campus. Alaska’s News Source returned to Hunt’s last known location, a home where she had planned to stay with her friend from school. A poster on a lamp post depict an image of Kelly Hunt, a 19-year-old Shaktoolik woman who has been missing since early January. The friend said Hunt arrived on an evening flight to Anchorage on Jan. 6, when she was picked up and brought with her suitcase to the Spenard-area house. The friend told Alaska’s News Source that Hunt was watching TV late into the night with friends at the house when she stood up and said she was going outside to drink with someone at about 6 a.m. on Jan. 7.Kelly’s oldest brother, Edward Jackson, reported her missing on Jan. 11, after family was contacted by Hunt’s friends, who said she never came home or made it to Soldotna.Anchorage police said they issued a RAVE alert by text and email at 11:45 p.m. the night Hunt was reported missing, calling it the fastest way to reach a large number of people. Raymond Hunt, another of Kelly’s brothers, said the family has struggled through months of uncertainty as they seek answers.She is described as 5-foot-4, about 155 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Police say she was last wearing a dark jacket and dark pants. Anyone with information is encouraged to call dispatch at 311 or Crime Stoppers.Spokespeople with the Anchorage Police Department said the department cannot comment on active investigations, but in a recent interview with Alaska’s News Source, APD Police Chief Sean Case described how missing persons reports are handled. He said missing person investigations follow a standardized process that begins with officers responding in person and gathering information at the scene, with cases moving to detectives when circumstances indicate higher risk. For lower-risk cases where there is no evidence of a crime and the person is not considered at risk, patrol officers handle the case and are required to respond to the scene, he said.Case said officers use a required form to document answers to standard questions, including information about health concerns, substance use, patterns of behavior and when the person was last contacted. He said the case is then entered into an internal tracking system.“We don’t clear these things over the phone,” he said. For critical or at-risk cases, Case said supervisors coordinate with investigative units and may deploy detectives and crime scene resources. “Think of it almost like a homicide investigation,” he said, describing how quickly detectives work when a person is considered critically missing. A spokesperson with APD did not confirm which level of risk Kelly was considered to be in when her missing person’s report was filed. Jackson said he flew to Anchorage on Jan. 12 to search for Kelly and gave her iPad and laptop to police.The investigator asked to remain anonymous due to the nature of his work, but he told Alaska’s News Source in an interview that he was hired by the family to follow up on leads in the days after she was reported missing, and responded to tips from the community. “We had a last known place where she was, we visited that place, got some information from some of the people, and then tried to track her down from that point,” the investigator said. “The case went pretty cold at that point.” Police said they cannot release details of an active investigation but confirmed the case was assigned to detectives in the department’s homicide unit, which they said is standard policy, and that investigators are following up on leads. Residents at the home where Kelly was staying told Alaska’s News Source no one reviewed a security camera above the door. Alaska’s News Source reviewed the SD card in the camera and confirmed the card had not recorded the night Kelly went missing, and had not been operational for months. When asked if police reviewed the footage in the security camera, an APD spokesperson responded in a statement saying, “This is an active investigation and as such, we are not permitted to share specifics for a variety of reasons. APD detectives have diligently investigated this case from the day she was reported missing and will continue with the investigation.” Antonia Commack, an advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, said she began searching for Hunt the day she was reported missing and questioned the early response. “It was very concerning to me from the very beginning because her brother Edward told me that she left her belongings at that house,” Commack said. “What young girl leaves without their purse, leaves a large amount of money in the house, and only leaves with their phone?”last month at the state high school basketball tournament in Anchorage, holding signs calling for Hunt’s safe return. Kelly had played in previous years at the tournament as a high school athlete. Alexis Savage, a community member who said she became more involved around the time of the state basketball tournament, said she initially focused on getting Hunt’s photo and name shared widely. “It wasn’t until just around state tournament time where … she was heavy on my heart,” Savage said. “I just knew there was something more than her just walking away.” Savage said she used social media since then to investigate Kelly’s disappearance and passed information to police, but now worries the investigation has stalled. “I felt like I handed it over to them, and we don’t really know what’s become of it,” Savage said. “It kind of feels like there’s nothing being done.”“There was no urgency in the beginning,” she said. “There’s never any urgency, until it’s too late.”“It felt like the case got cold,” he said. “It feels like it’s too slow in my opinion.”“Timing is everything,” Hunt said. “You’ve got to respond quicker and take actions quicker.” Hunt thanked people who have helped his family, including community members who have continued pushing for attention to the case.In a statement, Anchorage police said “APD policies and procedures have been followed in response to Kelly Hunt missing persons case,” and said the department posted information on social media and its website. Anyone with information is asked to contact Anchorage Police Dispatch at 311 or 907-786-8900. Tips can also be submitted anonymously atAlaska House budget panel advances $3,800 PFD in draft budgetPolice warn Alaskans of new widespread text scam
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