The family of a woman who disappeared from a campground just south of Girdwood say they believe she may have been abducted. They say they’ve searched for Valerie Sifsof for more than a week. Sifsof was last seen at the Granite Creek Campground on the evening of July 7. Searchers have found no trace of her. Victor Sifsof is Valerie’s father. He says he wants people across the state to be on the lookout for his daughter.
“We’ve searched a number of ways, with a helicopter, with dogs, with people on the ground just a few feet apart. We haven’t found any sign or anything. If she was free to do what she wanted to do, she would definitely call, so we feel definitely right now there’s a real chance there’s been an abduction here,” Sifsof said.
Sifsof is originally from Dillingham but was living in Anchorage. She is the Aunt of Olympic Snowboarder Callen Chythlook-Sifsof. Relatives say Sifsof was camping with her boyfriend when she disappeared. They say there was an argument and she left the campsite on foot. According to Trooper reports Valerie Sifsof went missing around midnight on Saturday, July 7. But she wasn’t reported missing until the 11th. That’s when troopers started looking for her. They say they searched for nearly a week but found nothing. Sifsof was last seen walking away from Granite Creek Campground, the campground near milepost 64 along the Seward Highway. She was wearing a black sweatshirt type jacket, blue sweatpants and black boots. If you have any information about her whereabouts State Troopers ask that you call their offices.
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.
