After six years, the Alaska State Troopers have updated their list of cold case homicides. There are 96 murders now classified as unsolved, compared to the 69 that appeared on a list the troopers published in 2019.
For victim rights advocates like Charlene Apok, the updated list has been a long time coming. She said people have been filing Freedom of Information Act requests for years to get troopers to release basic information about unsolved murders.
"So many people have been working on this," said Apok, director of Data for Indigenous Justice.
Advocates for Indigenous victims and their families applaud the new list. But some say it still falls short of what's needed to truly make a difference – that in order to breathe new life into their investigations, troopers need to go beyond publishing minimal data. And even with the update, they question some of the new information troopers have released.
A history of incomplete information on cold cases
Michael Livingston is a retired police officer and a longtime advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. He has tracked cold case murders since 2002, when the Alaska Department of Public Safety formed its Cold Case Investigation Unit.
At that time, DPS counted 101 unresolved cases from murders that took place between 1961 and 2001 – but the agency did not list the names of the victims or any details about the crimes.
Since then, Livingston filed 35 FOIA requests but believes it was an Alaska Federation of Natives resolution, passed at AFN's 2019 convention, that nudged troopers into publishing an updated list with more information.
The resolution, which Livingston helped to draft, said Alaska Natives had higher homicide rates than other Alaskans – that it was the third leading cause of death for Alaska Natives between the ages of 15 to 24.
Livingston said the 2019 list was an improvement. But he said it lacked not only the detailed profiles necessary to generate new leads, but also basic information such as descriptions of the victims and their backgrounds.
Advocates say the new list is a step forward but still falls short
The new cold case list was published on the department's website on Sept. 25, which coincided with the National Day of Remembrance for Homicide Victims.
Apok praised the list — which includes the names of the victims, case numbers and the dates and locations of the killings — but said it's not enough.
She said she has repeatedly asked the troopers to include more details about the victims and the circumstances surrounding their deaths. Apok said that as time passes, physical descriptions and photos of victims become especially important, as well as information about race and background. She said the new list has none of these things.
Still, Apok said there's always hope that something unexpected could be revealed.
"We don't want to eliminate that possibility," she said.
Apok said it's important to know the race of the victim because violence in Alaska affects a disproportionate number of Indigenous people and people of color.
"If we see those things over time, we see it's a systemic issue," Apok said. "So, it isn't pointing fingers at individuals, but it's saying these are what numbers tell us, and let's work together on it."
Questions about the new data
Since the update last month, advocates have counted about 50 names that were added to the list since 2019. They say they're confused because they believe more than 43 of those murders occurred before 2019. Livingston and other advocates say it's also troubling to discover that about two-dozen cases have been dropped from the list even though most of those remain unsolved.
Livingston pointed to the case of Arnoldine Hill, 26, as an example. He said the Hooper Bay woman was found dead off the Parks Highway north of Willow in 2021. She had not been reported missing and troopers initially worked to publicize her case. They apparently didn't turn up any new leads, but Livingston said that's no reason to take it off the cold case list.
At the very least, advocates say, unsolved murders should remain on the list out of respect for the families.
Troopers say the new list is a work in progress
Austin McDaniel, the communications director for the Department of Public Safety, said he couldn't immediately address the conflicting names and numbers without more research. But he said cold case classifications are a complicated process, made more challenging by turnover within the department – and that people should keep in mind that the new list is a work in progress.
"Some of these cases are incredibly old. They are from the '70s and from the'60s," McDaniel said. "We may not have photos of victims that are publicly releasable. So that's something, certainly, that we're looking at."
McDaniel said that when investigators decided to review their cold cases this summer, they discovered numerous inconsistencies and decided to develop a new system for classifying cases, which led to some of the cases being dropped from the list.
"There were a couple of examples of cases that had very limited physical evidence, essentially no physical evidence," McDaniel said. "And then all of the witnesses and suspects we may have had are now deceased, so there's no viable investigative path forward."
McDaniel said cases were also taken off the list if they could no longer be legally prosecuted. While there is no statute of limitations for murder in Alaska, the clock on cold cases can run out for other crimes such as manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
McDaniel said cases only stayed on the list if there was physical evidence that could be developed by future forensic science breakthroughs, or if there were viable witnesses who might someday come forward with additional information. McDaniel said investigators have learned that relationships between people can change over time, making them more willing to disclose information.
McDaniel said the department recognizes that its work is not perfect.
"We would certainly welcome meaningful feedback from the public on how we can keep them informed while doing this important work," McDaniel said in a follow-up email.
For now, he said the new system prioritizes cases based on solvability to avoid giving the false impression that all cases remain under active investigation.
But McDaniel emphasized that those cases could be reactivated if any new information turned up. He also said that another top priority is to keep the cold case list from growing.
"Our overall homicide clearance rate is in the upper 90 percentile or 100%," McDaniel said. "If you look back over the last five years, we have done an incredible job of not adding new cold cases to that list."
Advocates say cold case websites are a crime-fighting tool
Livingston hopes troopers will eventually come to see cold case websites as an indispensable investigative tool.
"Police cannot solve cases, especially cold cases, on their own. They need the help of the citizens," Livingston said. "They provide information and encourage citizens to step forward."
Livingston also believes cold case websites can help prevent future crimes.
"Serial killers become more and more emboldened when they get away with homicide — so when police publicize homicides, killers go to jail," he said. "We know that from programs such as John Walsh's America's Most Wanted. John Walsh has helped put over 1,000 violent criminals in jail."
But Livingston said the Alaska State Troopers' unsolved homicide list is only part of the equation. They only track trooper investigations, which do not include cases in Alaska's larger urban areas. Currently, Alaska has no website with a complete statewide listing.
"I think the state troopers are doing good in the sense that they at least have a cold case website. I think all local departments should have their own individual cold case website," he said.
Livingston believes the troopers may be the only law enforcement agency in Alaska that currently maintains a cold case website. He said the Fairbanks Police Department had one but discontinued it after updates to its website in 2015.
He said Alaska should follow the lead of states like Oregon, Washington and Colorado, which maintain comprehensive cold case websites, which use photos and other media to engage the public.
Livingston said Washington state created a deck of playing cards with photos of victims and gave them to inmates, because prisons are a good source for new leads. The cards also have information about rewards.
While advances in forensics and DNA technology have brought fresh eyes to old evidence, Livingston said proactive cold case websites can also do the same. They keep the focus on old crimes - and if done well, can help to build trust in law enforcement. And he believes it's possible for law enforcement agencies to do a better job.
"Every spring there's Police Memorial Day, in which each name of each law enforcement officer that's died in the line of duty is called out," he said. "So those names are not forgotten, but common everyday citizens are quickly forgotten."
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