One found, one still missing

WASILLA — Whenever unidentified human remains turn up in the Valley, it seems one name is invariably on everyone’s lips — Michael Palmer.

The story of a neighborhood dog that brought a human skull home in Houston was no exception.

“When I hear these cases I always hope that it will be some (closure) to the Palmer family,” read the lone, anonymous reader comment on the Frontiersman’s initial account of the remains found off of King Arthur Drive.

Palmer’s case is still open. He went missing at age 12 when he left his Meadow Lakes home to attend a party and never returned.

Immediately following his disappearance, troopers mounted an extensive investigation in an attempt to find out what happened. But all the investigative avenues they followed turned out to be dead ends.

Last year, on the 10th anniversary of Palmer’s disappearance, investigators said tips in the case have dwindled to nothing.

Troopers announced Wednesday that the body in Houston has been identified as that of Donnay Box. One family got closure. But another family still grieves and wonders. And the memory of Palmer and the mystery of his disappearance still haunts the Valley.

—Andrew Wellner