A warning to readers: this story contains descriptions of death that some readers may find disturbing.
When the body of 29-year-old Naomi Larson arrived in her home village of Nunapitchuk last summer, grieving family members and friends said that they were shocked at what they saw.
At the time, Larson’s mother, Sophia Larson, told KYUK that her daughter appeared to be severely beaten. Multiple people who had seen her in the days leading up to her death said that Larson had not shown visible signs of being assaulted prior to being found alone inside a Bethel home with a blanket over her body on Aug. 5, 2024.
In the weeks that followed, advocates for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People called for justice on social media, including alleging that Larson had feared abuse from a former boyfriend.
The Bethel Police Department (BPD) has maintained that Larson’s body showed no signs of trauma of any kind at the time of her death. The department’s chief of public safety, James Harris, said that the results of an autopsy released several months later showed no signs of injury to Larson’s body. On Feb. 20, he confirmed that the department had closed the investigation into Larson’s death.
"I can say that the photos that we had at autopsy and the photos that we had at the scene showed no trauma of any kind," Harris said. "[...] I cannot comment on the specifics of the autopsy, but I can state that it was definitely listed as natural causes. It was not a homicide."
Harris also said that bruising and swelling on Larson’s body may have been a result of the autopsy itself, which he said can leave signs of trauma like those seen by Larson’s family and friends at her funeral.
BPD has maintained since the beginning that there was no foul play in Larson’s death. But a police report obtained shortly after her death by KYUK brought additional questions about the way she was found, and the last people to have seen her alive. According to the report, Larson was found alone on the afternoon of Aug. 5, 2024 in a locked home in Bethel’s Housing subdivision with a blanket covering the upper half of her body.
While officers were still on scene, a man appeared on foot. According to the report, he told police that he had spent the previous night with Larson, and that she had locked the door behind him when he left for work that morning.
According to Harris, the man was quickly ruled out as a suspect. Harris said that receipts obtained from the man corroborated the timeline he gave to police. As for the blanket, Harris theorized that Larson may have already had the blanket wrapped around her when she ended up on the floor.
"It does not appear that she was covered with a blanket and then somebody left," Harris said. "We also know that the gentleman had been gone for an extended period of time, and when we arrived on scene, when I arrived on scene, and when he arrived on scene, she had been dead [a] very short period of time."
With the investigation closed, Larson’s family has declined to speak further about the case or their experience. One family member who did not wish to be named said that the family is exploring possibly using a private investigator to examine how the case was handled.
Trisha White, who was in an on-and-off relationship with Larson at the time of her death, said that she is devastated by the loss and remains convinced that Larson was the victim of foul play. Through a text message, White wrote: “We’re all broken about this case,” adding, “How are we going to feel safe if they don’t even take care of this kind of case?”
White said that all that she and others can do now is continue to call for justice for Naomi Grace Larson and other Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s cases.
