Police say they haven’t made any progress in the search for missing barista Samantha Koenig. But her friends and family held a vigil for her in Anchorage over the weekend.
“He’s able … he’s able … I know he is able … I know my lord able to carry me through …,” the Samoan 7th Day Adventist Youth Church Choir sang at a Candlelight Vigil for Samantha Koenig in Anchorage Saturday night.
Hundreds of people gathered in Town Square downtown for the 18-year-old barista that police say was abducted from the coffee stand where she worked. City Church Pastor Richard Irwin spoke at the event, drawing a connection between Koenig’s kidnapping and the culture of violence against women in Alaska.
“This is the reminder for us right here, this gathering for us to be able to say, enough is enough. We’re not going to put up with abuse any longer. We’re not going to put up with harm brought to the citizens of our city and our state. Victims have often have lost their voice. People who have been abuse have lost their voice. It’s time for you to step out and be a voice. It’s time for you to be the one who stands in the gap where somebody else doesn’t have the strength to. Anchorage must be a safe place for all the Samantha Koenigs,” Irwin said.
Koenig disappeared on the night of Feb. 1. Video footage from a security camera at the Common Grounds coffee stand shows her being kidnapped by an unidentified man. A reward is being offered for information leading to her whereabouts.
Daysha Eaton is a contributor with the Alaska Public Radio Network.
Daysha Eaton holds a B.A. from Evergreen State College, and a M.A. from the University of Southern California. Daysha got her start in radio at Seattle public radio stations, KPLU and KUOW. Before coming to KBBI, she was the News Director at KYUK in Bethel. She has also worked as the Southcentral Reporter for KSKA in Anchorage.
Daysha's work has appeared on NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered", PRI's "The World" and "National Native News". She's happy to take assignments, and to get news tips, which are best sent via email.
Daysha became a journalist because she believes in the power of storytelling. Stories connect us and they help us make sense of our world. They shed light on injustice and they comfort us in troubled times. She got into public broadcasting because it seems to fulfill the intention of the 4th Estate and to most effectively apply the freedom of the press granted to us through the Constitution. She feels that public radio has a special way of moving people emotionally through sound, taking them to remote places, introducing them to people they would not otherwise meet and compelling them to think about issues they might ordinarily overlook.
