Well over a hundred volunteers, mostly Coast Guard members and family, gathered early this morning at the Communications Station to help the FBI search for evidence related to the murders of Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins and retired Chief Petty Officer Richard Belisle. The two men were found dead the morning of April 12th by coworkers at the ComSta.
The volunteers were split into groups of twenty and then dispatched to various sections of Anton Larsen Bay Road, beginning at the ComSta and going all the way out to the main road, Rezanof Drive West.. They were instructed to comb both sides of the road-15 to 20 feet out- and to watch for a gun or pieces of a gun, clothing, boots, plastic bags or anything else that looked out of place. Nearly a dozen people showed up with metal detectors.
The search ended just after 11 this morning. A small group of volunteers headed over to the Dumpsters in Bells Flats to search. Nothing was found in either area.
Jennifer Canfield is a reporter at KTOO in Juneau.
