Missing Shaktoolik teen found dead in Anchorage

A monthslong search for Kelly Hunt that frustrated family members over a perceived lack urgency from investigators culminated last week when Anchorage police said they found the body of the 19-year-old in the Spenard neighborhood.
The Anchorage Police Department said in a Friday evening statement that the body found on the 3500 block of Lois Drive on the morning of April 20 was identified as Kelly Hunt.
Hunt, 19, was from Shaktoolik and traveling through Anchorage in January while returning to college. Police said Hunt arrived in Anchorage on Jan. 6 and was staying at a home on the 3200 block of Oregon Drive, just blocks from where her body was found.
Hunt left the residence the next morning and was reported missing on Jan. 11, officials said.
While Hunt’s family was devastated by the outcome, the discovery of her body provided “a sense of relief because they’re no longer wondering where she could be,” said Alexis Savage, a representative speaking on behalf of the family.
But they were also upset with how police handled the investigation, saying they didn’t feel investigators initially took the disappearance seriously and didn’t consider tips provided by friends or relatives, she said.
Hunt’s disappearance and the sudden circumstances in which she left the home she was staying in felt suspicious to the family, said Savage, who didn’t know Hunt but worked to raise awareness about her disappearance.
“There was more to her life that she was hoping to see,” she said. “A girl just doesn’t have plans to go back to college and end up dead.”
Police haven’t said whether investigators suspect foul play and haven’t provided other details about the manner of death or Hunt’s disappearance.
The medical examiner will determine her cause of death, officials said.
No arrests have been made in connection to the case, police said in their statement.
Detectives worked to find Hunt “from the day she was reported missing,” Anchorage police Chief Sean Case said in the statement. Police were limited in what they could disclose about the investigation because it was ongoing, he said.
“We acknowledge the loss for family members and for the community,” Case said in the statement. “We ask for understanding and patience from the community as detectives continue to conduct this investigation with urgency and accuracy.”
On Monday morning, APD spokesperson Gina Romero said the “the investigation remains active” and that there were no additional details for the department to share.
Hunt’s family was thankful for those who provided comfort or assistance, whether that was participating in one of the multiple ground searches with them, by helping draw attention to the case or giving information to investigators, Savage said.
The family, she said, will push police to aggressively investigate the case and hope Hunt’s death leads to improvements to how APD handles cases involving missing persons and Indigenous people.

Daily News photojournalist Bill Roth contributed.
This story originally appeared in the Anchorage Daily News and is republished here with permission.