Missing and Murdered Indigenous People

Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica reporter Kyle Hopkins recently wrote about Whitman’s murder and Paul’s release. He said the incident speaks to wider issues within Alaska’s justice system.

Justine Paul was indicted on flawed evidence. A defense witness wrote that police should have treated no fewer than 12 people as suspects of “higher interest.” A decade after the killing, no one has been convicted in Whitman’s death.

The parents of the 20-year-old whose body was found in Bethel in November 2023 under suspicious circumstances are suing for alleged negligence, discrimination, and emotional distress.

The 2023 report by the Not Invisible Act Commission focused on the disproportionate rates of assault and murder in Indigenous communities.