Anonymous Call Unlocks Murder Mystery After Three Decades
Cold Case Solved Through Persistence and a Stranger’s Confession
explorehotelworld.com – For more than thirty years, the disappearance of an Alaskan man remained one of the region’s most perplexing unsolved cases. The mystery finally began to unravel when an anonymous individual contacted authorities with a startling revelation: they had committed a murder in the Fairbanks area back in 1993. This single phone call set in motion a chain of events that would ultimately lead investigators to Christopher Popps, a 54-year-old Michigan resident now facing murder charges.
Alaska State Troopers confirmed that Popps was the source of the confession, which they traced through multiple anonymous calls to various law enforcement agencies across the state. The allegations paint a picture of a violent confrontation that ended tragically. Popps is accused of fatally shooting his former co-worker, Patrick Orville Dearth, in 1993 and subsequently disposing of the body inside a barrel along a remote stretch of highway.
Dearth, who was 34 years old at the time, vanished without a trace in November 1993. His absence was formally reported to the Fairbanks Police Department, but for decades, investigators struggled to piece together what had happened to him. The case remained dormant, gathering dust in files while the passage of time continued to obscure the truth.
The turning point arrived on January 22, 2025, when Alaska State Troopers received the anonymous tip. According to the agency, the caller claimed responsibility for a murder committed in the Fairbanks area during 1993. The Alaska Bureau of Investigation’s Cold Case Investigation Unit quickly assumed control of the case, eager to explore this new lead.
However, immediate action was not possible. Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel explained to Alaska Public Media that investigators could not immediately search the potential crime scene. Heavy snow cover and limited daylight hours made it difficult to conduct a thorough examination of the area where the body might have been hidden.
When investigators finally returned to the site in May 2025, they discovered human remains concealed inside a barrel positioned down a steep embankment near Mile 47 of the Steese Highway. The Alaska State Medical Examiner’s Office subsequently confirmed that the remains belonged to Dearth and officially ruled his death a homicide.
“Based on our investigation, we determined there was an altercation at an auto shop, which led Popps to shoot Dearth,” McDaniel told the outlet.
As investigators delved deeper into the evidence, they identified the anonymous tipster as Popps himself. McDaniel revealed that Popps had made several anonymous calls to different Alaska law enforcement agencies, each time claiming responsibility for Dearth’s death. Despite this pattern of confession, investigators have not yet clarified why Popps chose to come forward more than three decades after the alleged killing.
Authorities stated that Popps and Dearth had worked together in Fairbanks. The altercation that allegedly ended in Dearth’s death reportedly occurred at an auto shop, where a confrontation escalated into a fatal shooting. The details of this encounter remain central to the prosecution’s case against Popps.
A Fairbanks grand jury formally indicted Popps on two counts of second-degree murder on June 25, 2026. Court records indicate that a warrant for his arrest was issued on the same day. Michigan State Police subsequently arrested Popps near Kalamazoo on July 16, and he remains jailed in Kalamazoo County while awaiting extradition to Alaska.
As of Friday, Alaska court records showed that Popps did not have an attorney listed, and no future hearings had been scheduled, according to Alaska Public Media. Fox News Digital reached out to both the Alaska State Troopers and Michigan State Police for additional information regarding the ongoing case.
