Wasilla man charged with murder of a Big Lake man last seen in 2015

A Wasilla man already in custody on federal weapons charges has been charged with murder, according to the Alaska State Troopers.

A Palmer grand jury indicted Jay Osmond Gardner on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence on June 30. The charges are related to the death of Daniel Buckwalter, who was last seen in August of 2015.

AST received a report of a missing person Aug. 12, 2015. Buckwalter, 46, was believed to be in the Meadow Lakes area, troopers said. Authorities found Buckwalter’s abandoned vehicle on Three Bees Road in Houston. There was blood evidence found in the vehicle, troopers said, and it was confirmed to be Buckwalter’s. Troopers also believed the vehicle had been moved from the scene of the crime.

Since finding that piece of evidence, more than 50 people were interviewed, more than 30 search warrants were served and more than 30 pieces of evidence were examined by the Alaska Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory.

Over the course of the investigation, authorities came to believe that Buckwalter was likely murdered at a residence on Kerry Lynn Lane in Wasilla. That location is about two miles from where Buckwalter’s vehicle was found, troopers said. Gardner was viewed as the primary suspect.

“Gardner made several inconsistent statements throughout the investigation,” troopers said in an online dispatch posted Monday.

Investigators were unable to locate Buckwalter’s remains until April 20. It was the second time authorities served a search warrant at Gardner’s residence on Kerry Lynn Lane. The first was served on April 6, when the entire property was excavated, troopers said.

The remains were found April 20. Investigators removed floorboards from the house and found “the heavily decomposed remains of an adult human,” buried under about three feet of dirt and rocks.

Gardner will be arraigned on the new charges Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in superior court at the Palmer Courthouse.

Gardner has been in custody since March 25, when he was arrested by troopers at the Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage for an outstanding warrant for third-degree misconduct involving weapons.

U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced April 2 that Gardner had been charged with identify theft and making false statements. Gardner had allegedly obtained a state identification by using the identification of another person, authorities said.

“It is alleged that on Jan. 22, 2020, a renewal of an Alaska state ID was issued to Gardner after he fraudulently presented himself to be Cher Jammes, in name and appearance,” according to a press release issued by the US Attorney District of Alaska’s office.

Jammes is Gardner’s sister and lived on Gardner’s property. Both were interviewed by authorities Dec. 2, 2019, during an unrelated trooper investigation, officials at the attorney’s office said.

Gardner tried to use the fraudulent identification March 25 at the Ted Stevens airport, attempting to check on a flight reserved in the name of Cher Jammes, authorities said. Gardner was contacted but a state troopers investigator and a special agent with the Homeland Security Investigation while trying to check in for a flight, and gave authorities the fraudulent identity.

Garnder is currently in custody at Cook Inlet Pretrial in Anchorage.

Contact the Frontiersman at news@frontiersman.com.