Skull of missing woman discovered

MAT-SU -- A human skull found by moose hunters along the Matanuska River has been identified as that of a Wasilla woman missing for five years, Alaska State Troopers said.

Susan Beth Crawford disappeared near Mile 89 Glenn Highway on Aug. 9, 1998. Her 1990 blue Ford Escort was found abandoned the next day at Mile 91 Glenn Highway.

Earlier this month, hunters found a skull in a wash about 50 yards west of the river and three miles downstream from Hicks Creek. On Tuesday, the State Medical Examiners office identified the skull as Crawford's, troopers said.

She was 46 years old when she disappeared, and had been living in the Wasilla area.

Trooper spokesman Greg Wilkinson said foul play is not suspected in the case. There was no evidence on the skull indicating foul play or the cause of death, he said.

Investigators plan to search the area of Hicks Creek for more evidence of Crawford.

Trooper Capt. Don Savage told the Frontiersman shortly after Crawford's disappearance that his office received a report of an "irrational person" at a cabin at Mile 89 Parks Highway. The person was reported to have gone into the woods. It may have been Crawford, Savage said at the time, but there were no other clues to her whereabouts.

"We can't rule out that she was picked up by someone, but we don't have any information to suggest she left the area, either," he was quoted as saying.

She was wearing gray sweat pants, sandals and a sweatshirt when last seen. Tracking dogs and more than 70 people looked for Crawford in rough terrain near the Matanuska glacier before the search was called off.