Troopers Say No Human Remains Have Been Found At The Caribou Hotel Fire

Trooper Spokesman Says No Body Has Been Found 

As Of December 1st, 2025 

Rumors Have Been Swirling In The Copper Valley That The Body Of A Missing Valdez Woman Was Found By Search Dogs Last Wednesday In The Rubble Of The Caribou Hotel 

But,"No Human Remains Have Been Found," Says Trooper Spokesman 

The Department of Public Safety confirmed to the Country Journal on Monday night, December 1st, 2025 at 6:58 pm. that rumors in the Copper Valley are false regarding finding a body at the Caribou fire site. Austin McDaniel, Communications Director of the Department of Public Safety, emailed the Journal in response to a detailed request for information about those rumors. 

He responded, "No human remains have been found." 

There have been strong rumors circulating that the body of missing person Mary Jo Evans of Valdez had been found under the debris left from the hotel after it burned down in mid-November.

Evans disappeared before the November 12th, 2025 fire that destroyed Glennallen's only large hotel. An alert local resident paired her with her car, which was burned along with several others in the Caribou parking lot. 

KTUU in Anchorage has also reported that Troopers say no body was found.