Editor’s note: This story contains accounts of sexual violence and child sexual abuse. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual abuse, confidential resources are available through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or rainn.org.
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Alaska State Troopers say a 49-year-old man kidnapped, sexually assaulted and tried to kill a teenage girl in Wasilla Wednesday, prompting a massive effort to find him over the following day.
Troopers found and arrested David Wayne Anderson just after 6:30 p.m. Thursday during a traffic stop in the Wasilla area, according to an online troopers report. He faces numerous charges including attempted murder, assault, sexual assault, sexual abuse of a minor and kidnapping.
Anderson also appears in the state’s sex offender registry, listed as a “registered sex offender/child kidnapper” based on a conviction in a 2000 Kenai case.
According to troopers, the girl was found by a passerby at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday near Sunrise and Sitze roads.
A charging document against Anderson said the 13-year-old girl told troopers she had been abducted at about 3 p.m. by a man driving a black vehicle, while she walked home from her school bus stop at Pamela Drive and Wasilla-Fishhook Road. The suspect was wearing “a cowboy hat, black vest and boots.”
“He asked (the victim) to smoke from a meth pipe, but (she) didn’t inhale; (she) blew it out of her mouth,” investigators wrote in the charging document.
The girl said the man pointed a revolver at her, then put a blanket over her head. He took her Nintendo Switch and her cellphone, then took her into the woods with her wrists duct-taped together and fired his gun in the air three times.
She said she didn’t remember being sexually assaulted, but lab testing indicated “the presumptive presence of semen,” according to the charges.
The girl also had a swollen eye, said troopers.
Troopers got the description of the man and his vehicle — a dark El Camino pickup truck marked with vertical red lines. They then began asking contacts from previous cases for an identification.
One of those contacts said the victim’s description of the man matched Anderson, who owns an El Camino.
When troopers pulled Anderson over on Thursday, he was wearing a black cowboy hat and a black leather vest, according to the charges.
“During an interview with Anderson, he admitted he had to ‘let the monster’ out the day before,” charges say.
Troopers said Anderson admitted to sexually assaulting the girl, as well as taking her Switch and cellphone.
“Anderson then shot at (the victim) while she laid on the ground to kill her,” investigators wrote in the charges. “Anderson thought he killed (her).”
Anderson claimed he left the girl for dead, according to the charges. As he departed he dismantled his revolver, discarding its parts and the girl’s electronics to keep them from being found.
The girl told troopers she was able to chew through the tape on her wrists and free herself. She got to a road, and got help from a passing driver, charges say.
Troopers and the FBI requested help from the public Thursday to find a suspect in the case, but did not have a suspect name or description available at that time.
On Friday, troopers thanked the FBI, the Joint Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team and “the dozens of Alaska State Trooper Investigators and Troopers from across Southcentral Alaska that contributed to the investigation and arrest of Anderson.”
Anderson is being held at the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility. Troopers say the investigation continues and more charges against Anderson may be forwarded to prosecutors.
Troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel said Friday that troopers are “still actively investigating if Anderson may have additional victims.” Anyone with information on the current case against Anderson or any other potential victims is asked to call troopers at 907-352-5401 or submit tips anonymously through the AKTips smartphone app.
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
