Betrayal of Trust

The murder of Sonya Ivanoff

Recent events have reminded us that we cannot always trust the police to protect us. In the U.S., though, bad policemen and women represent only a small minority of law enforcement. I feel I can turn to the police if I need help, and if I report a crime, I believe they will respond and investigate my claim. The police in Nome, Alaska, however, often did not take reports of sexual harassment seriously, especially claims made by Alaska Native women. The Nome Police Department had a serious problem, and it took the murder of a beautiful, 19-year-old woman to expose the ugly truth.

Sonya Ivanoff

Sonya Ivanoff grew up in Unalakleet, Alaska, a small village with approximately 700 residents. Unalakleet is located on Norton Sound in the Bering Sea at the mouth of the Unalakleet River. It sits 148 miles (238 km) southeast of Nome and 395 miles (636km) northwest of Anchorage. The majority (77%) of the residents are Native Alaskans (primarily Inuit). Sonya shined brightly in her small village. She was a star on the girls’ high school basketball team, and she was also an honor roll student with a friendly, outgoing personality.

After graduating from high school, Sonya and her best friend moved to Nome and shared an apartment. Nome is a community of approximately 3800 people, and it offers more employment opportunities than Unalakleet. Sonya worked in the hospital admissions department at the Norton Sound Health Corporation.

On August 10, 2003, Sonya and her roommate visited friends. A little after midnight, the two roommates went their separate ways. Lam Ngo, a janitor at the Tesora Station in Nome, saw Sonya walk past the station sometime between 1:00 and 1:15 a.m. A few minutes later, Sonya walked past Florence Habros and Dannite Malywotkuk, standing on the porch of their mother’s house. Dannite was a sophomore and an athlete at Nome High School. She recognized Sonya because she’d recently watched Sonya play in a city basketball game and had admired Sonya’s skill on the court. Dannite and Florence exchanged greetings with Sonya and then watched Sonya walk down the street. They saw a marked Nome police vehicle slowly follow Sonya and then pull in front of her on West D Street. The driver rolled down the passenger-side window, and Sonya leaned in the window…