Tips dwindle in case of missing teen

PALMER — Though tips in the case have slackened off, the Palmer Police Department is still looking for information regarding the disappearance of Trenton Tunohun.

“I’m not going to stop just because nothing’s come up. We’ll keep at it until we get an answer. We owe that to his family,” said Palmer Police Detective Sgt. Kelly Turney. “In a case like this we’re always going to turn over every rock.”

Sunday, Mat-Su Crime Stoppers offered up to $1,000 reward for information leading to a resolution in the case.

Tunohun, 17, fled into the woods with a friend on July 27 after police arrived to investigate a disturbance at the Matanuska River bridge on the Old Glenn Highway. He hasn’t been seen since. Police say they got wind that Tunohun hadn’t returned home the day after he disappeared. They tried to find him in Palmer but came up short. That day at noon a two-day search effort convened. At various times searchers used boats, helicopters, ATVs and search dogs to comb the area between the Matanuska River and the Sherrod and Swanson Elementary schools.

Immediately following his disappearance, calls came into police regularly. Very few of them were credible. Rumors of murder were flying through the community and the police department went so far as to put out a statement saying emphatically that nothing in the investigation points to foul play.

Turney said that lately the leads have seemed to dissipate.

“I haven’t had anything credible come in probably over a week,” he said.

About a week ago he and Commander Tom Remaley took four-wheelers out to search the banks of the river. They came back a couple hours later, muddy and wet and not any closer to cracking the case.

“Someone that lived on the Butte side said they saw a lot of bird activity in a certain area,” Turney said. “It was dead fish. There’s a lot of dead fish in the rivers right now.”

He said that as the river drops they’ll likely get a few more similar phone calls.

The area near the bridge, Turney said, had become something of a tent city for long-term campers and semi-homeless residents.

Two people who were arrested after Tunohun fled — Jody M. Johnson, 33, and Troy A. Johnson, 36, both of Palmer — were camping there. Tunohun and his friends were drinking with the Johnsons just before police arrived and the teens fled, police say. The Johnsons got into a fight. The teens tried to intervene. One teen pulled a gun that was recovered on scene. Both Johnsons were arrested on outstanding warrants.

Turney said he wouldn’t go so far as to call the Johnsons homeless but they were living in a tent when Tunohun went missing and they were living in a tent when they were arrested.

“Probably more this year than in past years (we’ve had) folks camping in the woods in various locations around town,” Turney said.

A popular spot, he said, is the woods behind Carrs. Officers go back there once or twice a week to let people know it’s private property and camping isn’t allowed. They offer hotel vouchers for those who want them.

“We find one or two camps back there every week,” he said.

Crime Stoppers tips can be phoned in to 745-3333 or submitted online at matsu-crimestoppers.org or via text message by sending the keyword MATSU followed by a tip to 274637.

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