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Anchorage police search for man's killer nearly 6 years after his disappearance

Jose Guadalupe Gonzalez in a photo attached to an Anchorage police statement in 2016 announcing his disappearance. (Anchorage Police Department)
Jose Guadalupe Gonzalez in a photo attached to an Anchorage police statement in 2016 announcing his disappearance. (Anchorage Police Department)

Anchorage police say a man who went missing nearly six years ago, and whose body was just discovered last summer, was the victim of homicide.

Now, detectives are looking for his killer.

Jose Guadalupe Gonzalez was 46 in July 2016. That's when police say his coworkers reported that he had not shown up for work. According to a police statement at the time, Gonzalez’s employer said he’d never missed a day of work, and his family was concerned, because it was unusual for him to lose contact with them.

In the summer of 2021, Alaska State Troopers recovered human remains in Turnagain Pass, south of Anchorage, and in early 2022, the remains were identified as Gonzalez. That’s according to an Anchorage police statement Thursday announcing Gonzalez’s death is now considered a homicide.

Detectives are looking for help from anyone with information on Gonzalez’s disappearance or death, especially anyone who has not already talked to police. Police say to contact Det. Brett Sarber at 907-786-2651 or brett.sarber@anchorageak.gov.

Tips can also be given anonymously at AnchorageCrimeStoppers.com.

Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cgrove@alaskapublic.org.