Remembering Bruce Heck… CB300 Startup Marks Another Sad Anniversary Of Beloved Trooper's Murder

 Start Of Copper Basin 300 Holds Conflicted Memories For Many Copper Valley People 

Memorial at Eureka Summit For Bruce Alan Heck (Photo, Country Journal) 

The Copper River Country Journal 

On The First Night Of The January 10th, 1997 Race, Bruce Heck Was Murdered On The Glenn Highway 

In 1997, Bruce Heck – along with the other Troopers at the Glennallen Post – was known and respected by almost everyone in the entire Copper Valley. The Troopers were heavily involved in community outreach and were open about their work; their successes and shortcomings; the problems caused by vast distances; their reliance on each other and the people of the valley.

The Alaska State Troopers in Glennallen at that time were an unlikely  model for the type of law enforcement that many talk about and hardly anybody achieves. 

Respectful, knowledgeable, understanding, and firm. 

When Bruce was murdered by an ex-convict on the night of the race drawing at Lake Louise on January 10th, the shock and pain to the community was beyond recovery. 

 For those who were there, the Copper Basin 300 and his death have remained painfully intertwined, even after all these years. 

End Of Watch.  January 10th, 1997

BRUCE ALAN HECK 

Killed In The Line Of Duty On The Glenn Highway

Husband Of Laurie Daniel Of The Copper Valley

Bruce Alan Heck was serving as an Alaska State Trooper in Glennallen on January 10th, 1997 when he came across a man driving a stolen taxicab up the Glenn from Anchorage. 

The man, John Kevin Phillips, had just been released from prison. When pursued by Trooper Heck, Phillips flipped the cab off the highway near the entrance to the Lake Louise Road – and ran into the woods. Bruce Heck followed him on foot. 

Phillips suffocated him to death in the snowy forest. 

At the time, Glennallen's Troopers were well known to the general public. Bruce Heck's murder was emotionally devastating to the people of the region. 

A memorial corridor, from Mile 128 Glenn Highway at Eureka to Mile 189 at the Hub intersection of the Glenn and Richardson highways, was named in honor of Bruce Heck.