Finding the Murderer of Jessica Baggen

When a small Alaska town loses one of its children, the entire community grieves, and when a monster brutally rapes, murders, and discards that child, the residents cry out for answers and justice. In the case of Jessica Baggen, the folks in the community of Sitka, Alaska, would not have those answers for twenty-four years.

The people who loved and knew Jessica best described her as a “true Sitka kid.” Children who grow up in small, coastal Alaska towns and villages are unphased by the wet climate and don’t notice the short daylight hours in winter. Most love the outdoors and won’t hesitate to swim in the frigid water of the North Pacific. They will happily unhook the fish they just caught and perhaps even kiss the slimy animal as they pose for a photo. Alaska kids are tough, and most have a strong support system of family and friends. They are raised not only by their parents but by their entire community.

After searchers discovered Jessica Baggen’s body in May 1996, fifteen-hundred Sitka residents gathered for a candlelight vigil at the spot where she was found. The townsfolk were grief-stricken, angry, and scared. Who would do such a horrible thing in their small community, and could the monster be one of them?

Sitka, Alaska, is part of the Alaska Panhandle in Southeastern Alaska. It occupies the west side of Baranof Island and the south half of Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago. In 1996, Sitka had a population of approximately 8,000 people.

On May 4, 1996, Jessica Baggen’s sister hosted a birthday party for her little sister. Jessica was turning seventeen years old. Jessica’s sister lived in a trailer court on Sawmill Creek Road in Sitka, and when Jessica left the party to walk home a little after midnight, no one worried. Jessica lived with her parents less than a mile from her sister’s place, and this was tiny, safe Sitka, Alaska, where everyone knew everyone else and neighbors looked out for each other.

When Jessica failed to arrive home, her parents became concerned and frantic. Soon, searchers began combing the area near the path Jessica would have followed. Two days later, they found the t-shirt Jessica was last seen wearing, and less than two hours after that, they located her body seventy feet off a bike path parallel to Sawmill…