Missing man found in lake

PALMER — Alaska State Troopers say they may have found the body of a man missing since October 2012.

According to a press release issued Tuesday, the body was found in a Palmer-area lake May 24.

“The deceased was noted to be a Caucasian male. Preliminary indications are consistent with it being the missing person Shanon Lovell, 30, of Anchorage,” according to the press release.

Troopers report they’re not positive the body discovered in the lake is Lovell, but clothing found with the body and a tattoo strongly indicated it was his body. By Thursday, numerous condolences had been posted to the Facebook page dedicated to the search for Lovell.

“In the back of my mind I had hoped that somehow or some way you would appear and I wouldn’t have to break the horrible news to our daughter. Rest in peace Shanon. You are missed dearly,” reads one.

Lovell, son of Wasilla City Councilman Steve Lovell, has been missing since he was last seen leaving a party on McLeod Road in Palmer at around midnight on Oct. 5, 2012.

Troopers say he was found in a lake off of Lakeshore Loop. McLeod and Lakeshore are in the same neighborhood wedged between the Matanuska River and Outer Springer Loop. There are a handful of small lakes on maps of the area.

Councilman Lovell said his son had a drug habit that kept him in and out of jail. He has been raising his 12-year-old grandson since before his son went missing. He said his son was attempting to go straight and was married before he disappeared. Troopers say neither their investigation nor the autopsy yielded signs of foul play. That autopsy as of Tuesday had apparently failed to yield a cause of death or clues about the circumstances leading up to it.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.