Crime

Remember that truck fire outside Bethel on Thursday, June 13 that was initially reported as a tundra fire? It turns out that the truck belonged to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, and the hospital is offering a reward for information on who stole it.

For several years now, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta tribes have named public safety as their top priority. Some communities in the region don’t have any law enforcement. The ones that do often don’t have enough, or don’t have any training. On Thursday, June 13 that situation changed for a few communities across the region when Yuut Elitnaurviat in Bethel graduated a class of 13 rural law enforcement officers.

Bethel City Council member Fritz Charles was released from the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center on Tuesday, June 5, 2019. Bethel Police arrested him for driving under the influence the Sunday prior, after Alaska State Troopers found him “passed out” behind the steering wheel at Crowley Fuels, according to a police report.

Bethel police officers arrested Bethel City Council Member Fritz Charles for driving while intoxicated on Sunday, June 2, 2019. 

Update: Kimberly Odinzoff, age 14, is on her way home. Her older sister, Maggie Odinzoff, says that Kimberly called their dad at 4 p.m. on Friday, telling him that she is okay and on her way back to their house. The family had just filed a missing person's report before she called.

Original story: A 14-year-old girl is missing in Bethel, and her family is asking for help finding her. Kimberly Odinzoff did not come home on Wednesday night, and her family has not heard from her since.

A suspect in an attack on Don Black, who manages the Long House Hotel in Bethel, has been caught in Kotlik, Alaska. State troopers arrested 30-year-old Jarvis Prince, who is charged with assault in the first degree.