Leading into the new year, KSRM will be recapping our top ten stories of 2014: exploring the issues that had the deepest impact on our community.
The ongoing and mysterious case of the missing Kenai family of four captured the attention of media outlets worldwide during 2014.
June 7, 2014
A local family of four has been confirmed as missing by the Kenai Police Department.
38-year-old Brandon Jividen, 22-year-old Rebecca “Becca” Adams, and her two children: 6-year-old Michelle Hundley and 3-year-old Jaracca Hundley, were last seen May 27 at their Kenai apartment.
KPD says there’s no information to say that there’s foul play.
The family’s two vehicles and belongings are still at the apartment.
Sgt. Scott McBride with KPD says they’re hoping the family went on a camping trip or vacation and just forgot to tell someone. They’re not sure if the family owned any other vehicles.
Anyone who has details about their whereabouts or possible movements is asked to call KPD at 907-283-7879, in reference to case number 1406-0097.
June 8, 2014
The search for a family of four from Kenai has been joined by agents from the FBI, two search and rescue dog organizations, and is utilizing the Alaska State Troopers helicopter.
As we previously reported, Kenai police are searching for Brandon Jividen, Rebecca Adams, and her two children; Michelle Hundley and Jaracca Hundley, who were last seen May 27 at their Kenai apartment.
Alaska Search and Rescue Dogs and the Matsu Search and Rescue Dogs have also joined the efforts to find the missing persons.
Kenai Police are encouraging anyone with information or even if you have had recent interactions with the missing persons to call them at 283-7879.
They also request anyone who may live in the area of Wildwood Dr., California Street, 1st Street, or 2nd Street and have seen anything suspicious in that area over the last couple week to give them a call.
The family’s two vehicles and belongings are still at the apartment.
June 9, 2014
The Kenai Police Department are still looking for people who may have recently had contact with a missing family of four from Kenai.
Lt. Dave Ross with the Kenai Police Department said they got more help over the weekend.
Ross: “They were reported by the landlord on June 5, which was last Thursday as having not been around or paid their rent and that was out of the ordinary, their vehicle was still there, so that led into a missing persons investigation and its been a top priority in the department, we’ve had a lot of our own personnel in and we’ve called in assistance as offered by the FBI and they are here on the ground helping us, we have a number of agents working here at our own facilities on the technical aspects of the investigation and we have a number of FBI agents out in the field assisting us with leads and areas of search and followup. We also have the Mat-Su dog team, is still down here, helping us in the area today the search and rescue group.”
Kenai Police are encouraging anyone with information of even if you have had recent interactions with the family to call dispatch at 283-7879.
Ross: “We are working hard to locate them, we don’t have any specific information to show that foul play is the cause of them being missing, at this point we are just looking for missing persons and we would appreciate the public’s help in locating them even if people have only had contact with them three or four weeks ago or even prior to that if they knew them well we would sure like to talk to those people if they haven’t already talked to the police, we’re just trying to get a full understanding of the people who are missing and some of their habits and some of their connections and all those things that might help lead to us locating them.”
They also request that if any residents of the Wildwood Dr., California St., First St., or Second Street have seen anything suspicious in that area over the last couple of weeks to give them a call.
The Kenai Police Department has said that after days of canvassing neighborhoods near the missing family’s home they have a lot of information however no real leads.
Kenai Police Chief Gus Sandahl said there are no indicators that the family went into the woods however they are searching there too.
Chief Sandahl: “We’ve been searching the wooded areas, trails and that area is continuing to expand out from the residence.”
Sandahl said that he continues to be hopeful that they just went on a quick vacation.
Lt. Dave Ross with the Kenai Police Department said the family appears to have had limited connections in the community.
Lt. Ross: “It seems like there’s not as many connections as most people may have, we’re working hard to find those connections and our investigators are trying to find those that have connections so if anyone listening to this has connections to those people we would love to hear from them because the more details we have about them and what may have transpired prior to their disappearance the better chance we have of locating them.”
As wepreviously reported the family was last seen May 27, and their two vehicles and belongings are still at their apartment according to police. The family’s dog is also reported to be missing.
June 11, 2014
The Kenai Police Department had few new developments in the case of the missing Kenai family however some of their relatives did attend the media briefing.
Rebecca Adams’ uncle, Dennis Gifford told us the entire situation is mind-boggling.
Gifford: “Again that’s some of the things that we’ve talked about I think every couple goes through, issues and arguments, I don’t even want to say arguments but disagreements, there was nothing that red flagged us as anything else going on but normal couple stuff, like I said, we don’t understand what happened or what could’ve.”
He said that the community has been outstanding in their outpouring of support and that their family is working to stay positive.
Gifford: “There’s days where one of us will go dark and think the worst and the rest of us are there to cheer them up and cheer lead, get us back thinking positive and be hopeful, that’s where we’re staying, we’re staying hopeful that it’s going to be resolved and they’ll be home. We’re hoping they’ll roll in and they’ll go, what in the world is going on and we’re all going to be embarrassed that all this happened but that’s ok, we’ll hug them and then we’ll kick their butts, we’re hoping that that happens that’s our hope and we have to stay with that.”
Kenai Police along with various other agencies continue to work to locate Brandon Jividen, Rebecca Adams, and Adams’ two daughters: Jarraca Hundley and Michelle Hundley.
Police Chief Gus Sandahl has said that this is their top priority.
June 12, 2014
Authorities working to locate the missing Kenai family have asked that the public avoid the search area as to not interfere with new resources they will be using.
Kenai Police Chief Gus Sandahl spoke about more resources that have joined the search efforts for Brandon Jividen, Rebecca Adams, and her two children who have been missing since late May.
Sandahl: “And I greatly appreciate the assistance provided by the Kenai Peninsula Borough volunteer CERT team, also member of the Army National Guard based here in Kenai, members of the Nikiski Fire Department, and other members of the community that have volunteered their time for the
He added that although they appreciate the public’s input and participation in providing information however…
Sandahl: “We are asking for members of the community to refrain from taking any of their own initiative to search on the trails and wooded areas in the northwest part of Kenai surrounding their residence. We have a specialized canine scent detection team arriving from out of state and we need the wooded areas and trails cleared out for that sustained period of time.”
Sandahl said that the new search and rescue dog team was organized by the FBI and he was not certain of where they were coming from.
June 13, 2014
Authorities are still working to locate the missing Kenai family.
We spoke with Kenai Police Chief Gus Sandahl today who said there are still no new updates however…
Sandahl: “The grandmother to Jaraca and Michelle, the two missing children in this missing persons case Lisa Hundley, was arrested on an unrelated charge, a charge unrelated to this missing persons case, she was arrested in Tennessee so naturally we would want to talk to Lisa Hundley as well as part of this missing persons investigation, that interview has taken place and we’re not revealing any specifics of that interview.”
June 18, 2014
The search for a missing Kenai family of four is continuing, at least 24 days after a confirmed sighting.
On May 25, 22-year-old “Becca” Adams was seen driving the family’s black truck, thanks to surveillance tape from a local business.
Kenai Police Chief Gus Sandahl says they impounded the vehicle…
Chief Sandahl: “The Kenai Police Department is currently in possession of the black Chevy Colorado that’s owned by Brandon Jividen. That was just towed to the Kenai Police Department as part of the investigative process.”
Chief Sandahl declined to comment on the condition of the vehicle or what they found on the inside. He said the Department isn’t releasing many details about the case while the investigation continues.
Agencies from around the State have been helping…
Chief Sandahl: “We appreciate the tremendous amount of assistance provided to us by multiple agencies, especially the FBI who has been very generous providing an immense amount of resources to this investigation.”
Dog teams had previously been searching the woods behind the family’s California Ave home. Chief Sandahl said they are no longer requesting people stay out of that area.
June 19, 2014
Now that K-9 units have been called off the search for the missing Kenai family of four, a community search effort will be launched on Saturday June 28 at 10am.
37-year-old Brandon Jividen, 22-year-old Rebecca Adams, 5-year-old Michelle Hundley and 3-year-old Jaracca Hundley have been missing since roughly May 25. Kenai Police Chief Gus Sandahl said that was the last confirmed sighting of Becca, who was driving Jividen’s black Chevy Colorado when she was observed on surveillance cameras on a local business.
He said KPD’s top priority is to continue to look for clues about the disappearance, with help from around the state…
Chief Sandahl: “I am so impressed by the officers that we have in the Kenai Police Department and their capabilities as well of the quality of people that we’re working side-by-side with with the FBI, as well as the resources that have been available through them and other entities that have helped us out.”
The community search will start at the family’s California Ave apartment on June 28.
June 23, 2014
On Tuesday, June 24, volunteers with four wheelers, boats, canoes, and some aircraft will begin a motorized and aerial search for the missing family.
Katherine Covey has been involved in organizing the search.
Covey: “Well what I’ve done is put the word out to get four wheelers, anybody who has access to waterways with boats, canoes, kayaks, we’d like some more air support, somebody has offered a plane and the use of that, they are going to be out there but the more the merrier certainly and the more help we can get to cover more ground, just the effort so we can confidently know that one area was searched well.”
She said that her and other organizers will finalize the details of tomorrow’s search this evening at a meeting and then share the information via the Funny River Fire Help and Community Resource Facebook page and the Findthemissing Alaskafour.
Covey: “We’re not including foot searchers tomorrow just because of the coordination efforts and everything else like that we just decided to keep it deep woods, get into some places that people haven’t been in yet because the family right now has been out on four wheelers and stuff like that so we kind of just want to help their efforts in that area and go with their lead right now.”
Covey manages the Funny River Fire Help and Community Resource and said it was incredible to see the community come together for that and hopes that they will come together to help the families involved in this case also.
As we reported earlier, Lanell Adams is also coordinating a line search with anyone who would like to volunteer for Saturday, June 28. Details of that search may also be found on the Findthemissing Alaskafour Facebook page.
June 24, 2014
Local volunteers began their search near the missing Kenai family’s residence at 9 this morning and before heading out the Kenai Police Department briefed the crews.
We spoke with Lt. Dave Ross about the volunteer search efforts.
Ross: “Kenai Police Department is definitely supportive of the family and the community efforts to locate the missing family including the planned effort to search for them, we’ve offered to meet with those involved and discuss whatever we can that might be helpful to them as they coordinate their search, out personnel right now is focused on the investigation and developing leads that might refocus our investigation in a certain area.”
Volunteers must check in before and after searching, at the incident command post that has been set up on California Ave. off of Wildwood Dr.
This search has been classified as a deep woods search, using aerial and atv measures to do an in-depth grid search of a specific area, Tuesday, June 24, and Wednesday, June 25.
Coordinators have said that if anyone would like to support the search that they may donate fuel for the aerial operations as that is the most expensive portion and right now the private pilot is supplying it.
Anyone interested in participating or donating fuel may private message the Funny River Fire Help and Community Resource or the Findthemissing Alaskafour facebook pages.
June 30,2014
Friends and relatives of 22-year-old Becca Adams, 37-year-old Brandon Jividen, 5-year-old Michelle Hundley and 3-year-old Jarraca Hundley are continuing their search around the missing family’s California Ave apartment in Kenai.
Adams’ sister, Lanell Adams, told us they can’t figure how the family went missing while their two vehicles and car seats are still at the apartment.
Adams: “She’s my baby sister. They’re my nieces. I know if it were me in this situation, she would be doing everything she could to find me, so I just want to know that they’re safe.”
Searches have been continuing all week, with a coordinated line search held last Saturday morning…
Adams: “It’s been amazing. We have had well over 100 people, an amazing amount of people come in, and they come in, the woods are ridiculous out there. They’re horrible. And they come in beat up, and they just look like they want to leave, and they want to go back out, or, ‘We’ll be back tomorrow.’ It’s been amazing.”
Lanell said they’ll continue searching until the volunteers or their finances run out and they feel like they’ve exhausted all possibilities. Lanell is the breadwinner for her four children and husband at home in Washington state, if you’d like to help support the search efforts or the Adams family…
Adams: “We have a website, it’s the gofundme.com, it’s ‘Find The Missing Alaska Four,’ and then we have a donation account, the Jividen-Adams Donation account at Wells Fargo. And that’s helping to pay my bills and helping with search efforts and stuff like that and helping me stay up here so I can find my baby sister and my nieces.”
July 7, 2014
Despite weeks of searching for the Missing Kenai Family, organizer Katherine Covey said the search is losing resources due to lack of new leads.
Covey: “As far as scaling down the search there and having IC set up and stuff like that, they need to at some point get back to their lives, there’s people up here from out of state, its a high cost for them to be up here looking and they are away from their families and children and what not which is super hard.”
She said that Kenai Police Department told the search organizations that they had fully extended their resources and could not continue at such a high capacity however are still investigating thoroughly.
Covey also talked about what kinds of searching have been happening.
Covey: “Foot, ATV, our pilot was busy over the weekend, he’s very involved in the rodeo but he’ll be back up this week and we had some boats go out over the weekend in some other places they did do some searching around where they were recreating as well and texted back to let me know where they looked so I mean that was really kind of them to continue looking while they were with their families, wherever people are at we ask take a look around, if you want to take a hike, always take a look around.”
She said she feels like the searches are also losing enthusiasm in the community yet thanked those who have continually been involved, and encouraged people to keep sharing information.
Covey: “Anyone can always call into crimestoppers if they know something and stay completely anonymous, I’ve spoken with the guy who runs crimestoppers here and he told me the break down of everything that happens and it is 100% anonymous, they do not report anyone, you don’t even have to give your name so if that’s stopping someone from saying something, if they saw something and they just don’t want to get involved just make the call into crimestoppers, its as simple as that, send a note to KPD or whatever, you can still stay anonymous.”
July 16, 2014
Individuals are still encouraged to organize searches for the missing Kenai family of four, but the official Incident Command center and daily searches have been closed.
Organizer Katherine Covey said today that “the families had to return to homes and some semblance of life despite the heartbreak they are going [through].”
Covey said the community support lifted the family’s spirits, and they’re still hoping that anyone with information will come forward.
She said the search didn’t yield any concrete results, but gave the families “a powerful gift, and that has carried them through.”
October 30,2014
The Kenai Police Department searched a densely wooded and swampy area today for the Missing Kenai Family but found no new leads.
Lt. Dave Ross said an unidentified article of interest that had been spotted from the air turned out to be an overturned shooting target that doesn’t appear to involve the case.
He said they have still not concluded whether the outerwear found in their October 23 search is from the family but detailed why they were going back into that particular area today.
Lt. Ross: “We know that from several people that Brandon Jividen walked in this area and this was his normal stomping grounds, he spent time walking back there in the woods and hanging out there so we know that’s an area that he’s familiar going and it’s in proximity to the house.”
Lt. Ross had said before that there are no additional searches scheduled at this time.
