Public Safety

Missing woman's car found in parking lot of fire-ravaged hotel

KUAC | By Tim Ellis

Published December 1, 2025 at 10:12 AM AKST

The state Department of Public Safety is investigating why the car of a missing Valdez woman was found in the parking lot of the Caribou Hotel in Glennallen. They're also are looking into a fire that destroyed the log structure on Nov. 12, along with several vehicles in the parking lot.

Troopers employ K-9s in search, but can't find human remains at hotel burn site in downtown Glennallen

Alaska State Troopers are investigating whether a missing Valdez woman might have been staying at the Caribou Hotel in Glennallen when it burned down on Nov. 12th.

The Valdez Police Department issued a missing person report for 86-year-old Mary Jo Evans on November 11th, says city public information officer Sarah Jorgenson-Owen.

The City of Valdez Police Department issued this missing person alert after Mary Jo Evans' family members reported they hadn't seen her since early November.

"We had received calls from concerned family members that the last time they had heard from her was November 5^th," Jorgenson-Owen said.

A Valdez police news release issued Nov. 24 says Evans may have been driving from Anchorage to Valdez on Nov. 11in a blue 2020 Ford Escape sedan.

The release says Valdez police checked with Alaska law-enforcement and Canadian border agencies about the case and "exhausted all investigative leads" on Evans' whereabouts. So Valdez police then reached out to ask the public for information.

Jorgenson-Owen said Wednesday that a Glennallen man saw the department's missing-person alert on its Facebook page and contacted Troopers on Nov. 24.

"And this person recognized that vehicle and called the Trooper's office in Glennallen to say they believed that they had seen a vehicle matching that description that had been destroyed in the fire."

The Nov. 12 fire that destroyed the Caribou Hotel also burned several cars in the parking lot.

She said the man told Troopers that he saw a badly burned blue Ford Escape in the parking lot of the Caribou Hotel on the day after the Nov. 12 fire.

"After this Glenallen resident said something to the Troopers, they went over and then were able to confirm that one of the vehicles in the fire was in fact the 2020 Ford Escape that belonged to Mary Jo."

Jorgenson-Owen said Valdez Police then handed the case over to the state Department of Public Safety.

The Caribou Hotel was popular among travelers, tourists and sled-dog racers.

DPS spokesperson Austin McDaniel said in an email Sunday that investigators haven't found any human remains at the hotel, which burned to the ground. He said they searched again on Wednesday with specially trained K-9 sniffer dogs.

He said deputy fire marshals are continuing to investigate what caused the fire and where it started burning.

Investigators initially said they believe everyone got out of the hotel safely, and that no injuries were reported.

James Fields is a co-owner of the hotel, and he said Wednesday he doesn't know whether Evans checked-in on Nov. 11, because his general manager gave the hotel manifest to investigators.

McDaniel said Sunday the deputy fire marshals also are investigating whether Evans is listed on that manifest.

Editor's note: This story has been updated and revised.
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