Hitchhikers find body

MAT-SU -- A pair of hitchhikers found a body near Mile 7 Knik-Goose Bay Road last Wednesday evening, and Alaska State Troopers are asking anyone with information that might help identify the remains to call them.

Troopers from the general investigation unit of the Palmer trooper post were dispatched to the scene around 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The remains were collected and subsequently transferred to the state medical examiner's office.

Trooper spokesman Greg Wilkinson said the body -- found in a ditch along the roadside -- was wearing women's clothing, including a brassiere, but was also in an advanced state of decomposition.

Workers at the medical examiners office will X-ray the remains to make a definitive sex determination. Dental X-rays will also be taken and checked against X-rays from existing missing person cases, according to Wilkinson.

The remains were described as skeletal in a trooper press release. Wilkinson said troopers don't have much information to report, but are able to rule out cases in which people have only recently been reported missing.

"Based on the initial information from the scene and the state of the decomposition it would appear that this body has been dead for awhile," Wilkinson said. "It hasn't been a month, it hasn't been two months -- this body has been there for quite some time."

Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Alaska State Troopers in Palmer at 745-2131.