AK - Samantha Koenig, 18, Anchorage, 01 Feb 2012 - #7

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves
Status
Not open for further replies.
From what I understand, you couldn't even drive into the parking lot during the winter. They had to plow the parking area before investigators went it. If that is true, I'm curious as to where he would have parked and how far it would be to the lake. Maybe 907 or DadinAK knows?

I am curious about the housing nearby and if this is plowed. Their was a comment from a man who recently moved from LA and could see the lake but was on it. Possible IK got access from that neighborhood or had keys to one of those houses? DadinAK, do you know?
 
http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/aspunits/matsu/keplerbradlksra.htm

"The area is open year round, but access into the parking lot is only available during the summer months.

Approximately 6 parking spaces are available in the winter, outside the gated entrance to Matanuska Lake. There are secondary access points with a small parking lots off of residential roads."


Here is a map from the State Parks: http://www.dnr.alaska.gov/parks/maps/kepler.pdf

It is even more strange that IK managed to get in there, then...?
 
I am curious about the housing nearby and if this is plowed. Their was a comment from a man who recently moved from LA and could see the lake but was on it. Possible IK got access from that neighborhood or had keys to one of those houses? DadinAK, do you know?

My best guess is that in that area, it is definitely plowed, at least to the house(s) like any other residence in this vicinity. If there are houses on a lake in Alaska, I can almost guarantee that there are broken/established trails to the lake surface from these houses. If no one knows for sure before I get off of work tomorrow, and none of us can spot other trails in the pictures published my MSM, I can pull into the parking lot on my way home from Anchorage and take a look to see if there are any other trails coming from house(s) on the lake. It is only about 5 minutes out of the way,afterall.

Looking at what ConnectedSuitor just posted about winter access, they may have restricted it back to the 6 spots outside the gate. Might be too far of a walk to peek tomorrow, I will have my two young daughters with me. Does anyone really want to know that badly? LucyOso?
 
My best guess is that in that area, it is definitely plowed, at least to the house(s) like any other residence in this vicinity. If there are houses on a lake in Alaska, I can almost guarantee that there are broken/established trails to the lake surface from these houses. If no one knows for sure before I get off of work tomorrow, and none of us can spot other trails in the pictures published my MSM, I can pull into the parking lot on my way home from Anchorage and take a look to see if there are any other trails coming from house(s) on the lake. It is only about 5 minutes out of the way,afterall.

Looking at what ConnectedSuitor just posted about winter access, they may have restricted it back to the 6 spots outside the gate. Might be too far of a walk to peek tomorrow, I will have my two young daughters with me. Does anyone really want to know that badly? LucyOso?

It would be good to know how far he would have had to carry Samantha, for example...just an idea, if you can tell without having to do a walk yourself...I just can't imagine the nerve, yet look at the nerve he displayed (or stupidity combined with luck) when he took her...
 
My best guess is that in that area, it is definitely plowed, at least to the house(s) like any other residence in this vicinity. If there are houses on a lake in Alaska, I can almost guarantee that there are broken/established trails to the lake surface from these houses. If no one knows for sure before I get off of work tomorrow, and none of us can spot other trails in the pictures published my MSM, I can pull into the parking lot on my way home from Anchorage and take a look to see if there are any other trails coming from house(s) on the lake. It is only about 5 minutes out of the way,afterall.

Looking at what ConnectedSuitor just posted about winter access, they may have restricted it back to the 6 spots outside the gate. Might be too far of a walk to peek tomorrow, I will have my two young daughters with me. Does anyone really want to know that badly? LucyOso?

Dad, not sure if you can read this without registering but guys are talking about fishing there within the past couple weeks. http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/111736-Matanuska-Lake
 
Dad, not sure if you can read this without registering but guys are talking about fishing there within the past couple weeks. http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/111736-Matanuska-Lake

Hmmm, those comments about the "hill" make me wonder again about the task of contolling the decent of a "weighted" sled. Have you, ConnectedSuitor ever used one of the portable shanty/sleds, and if so how hard are they to control? IIRC, the time that I walked down the hill in the summertime I came upon a sharp right hook in the trail at the bottom of the hill, with trees to face if one were unable to make the turn with a sled in the wintertime.
 
My best guess is that in that area, it is definitely plowed, at least to the house(s) like any other residence in this vicinity. If there are houses on a lake in Alaska, I can almost guarantee that there are broken/established trails to the lake surface from these houses. If no one knows for sure before I get off of work tomorrow, and none of us can spot other trails in the pictures published my MSM, I can pull into the parking lot on my way home from Anchorage and take a look to see if there are any other trails coming from house(s) on the lake. It is only about 5 minutes out of the way,afterall.

Looking at what ConnectedSuitor just posted about winter access, they may have restricted it back to the 6 spots outside the gate. Might be too far of a walk to peek tomorrow, I will have my two young daughters with me. Does anyone really want to know that badly? LucyOso?

BBM. If you have you daughters, it is up to you as a parent who knows them to decide. For me, it would depend on my children's age and if there was a message I could impart to them about personal safety. I would not want to know if it would traumatize your girls in any way!

It is up to you. If there is an aerial view via google or something that would work, too! I was thinking about what roads would be plowed and if residential roads are close to the lake.
 
Hmmm, those comments about the "hill" make me wonder again about the task of contolling the decent of a "weighted" sled. Have you, ConnectedSuitor ever used one of the portable shanty/sleds, and if so how hard are they to control? IIRC, the time that I walked down the hill in the summertime I came upon a sharp right hook in the trail at the bottom of the hill, with trees to face if one were unable to make the turn with a sled in the wintertime.

No, the portable sled/fish hut situation is not in my wheelhouse. I have only been a reluctant bystander on ice fishing trips :) I have driven by those lakes a million times but I don't even think I've ever been there in the summer. I guess you could take a snow machine out there, even if its not technically legal no one would really notice in the valley, right?
 
Hmmm, those comments about the "hill" make me wonder again about the task of contolling the decent of a "weighted" sled. Have you, ConnectedSuitor ever used one of the portable shanty/sleds, and if so how hard are they to control? IIRC, the time that I walked down the hill in the summertime I came upon a sharp right hook in the trail at the bottom of the hill, with trees to face if one were unable to make the turn with a sled in the wintertime.

This sounds bad, but, at this point (because obviously he had no respect for the living), pulling or pushing a sled down (even a child's sled) or a body wrapped in tarps would be fairly easy. It would slide fairly well even in snow drifts. It is not like he is going to worry about bumping, banging or hurting her at that point. I don't think he would be overly concerned about controlling the decent...just getting the body down the hill. Unless he had a sled (like snow mobile sled) and even towing something behind that, I honestly don't think he would have cared if she got banged up or hit a tree. He could easily control his sled, but, it's not like he would worry about the swing of the cargo/sled/trailer behind him...Sorry if that is harsh...I have spent a lot of time in the snow and with IK's adrenalin going, anything is possible...He may not have even set up a tent...may have just done it at night...
 
BBM. If you have you daughters, it is up to you as a parent who knows them to decide. For me, it would depend on my children's age and if there was a message I could impart to them about personal safety. I would not want to know if it would traumatize your girls in any way!

It is up to you. If there is an aerial view via google or something that would work, too! I was thinking about what roads would be plowed and if residential roads are close to the lake.

Any residential roads in that area are sure to be plowed. As far as the proximity of those in relation to the lake, an aerial map/satelite view would probably suffice. I can drive by and see if it is a do-able trip tomorrow, otherwise it will have to wait until Saturday.

Thank you for your considerations of the affect that a trip there may have on my children. I had already considered it myself, and decided it would just be a little side trip/walk as far as they are concerned, with their ages in mind. My oldest is about 4 and only knows that someone took the girl whose picture is on Daddy's phone and that girl's Daddy is very sad. Enough to associate a sad-toned country song about a girl, to Samantha. No mention for a couple weeks, and hoping she kind of "forgets". I only tear up trying to imagine a way to explain to her what happened when she is only 4.

RIP SAMANTHA KOENIG
 
Any residential roads in that area are sure to be plowed. As far as the proximity of those in relation to the lake, an aerial map/satelite view would probably suffice. I can drive by and see if it is a do-able trip tomorrow, otherwise it will have to wait until Saturday.

Thank you for your considerations of the affect that a trip there may have on my children. I had already considered it myself, and decided it would just be a little side trip/walk as far as they are concerned, with their ages in mind. My oldest is about 4 and only knows that someone took the girl whose picture is on Daddy's phone and that girl's Daddy is very sad. Enough to associate a sad-toned country song about a girl, to Samantha. No mention for a couple weeks, and hoping she kind of "forgets". I only tear up trying to imagine a way to explain to her what happened when she is only 4.

RIP SAMANTHA KOENIG

:( Sorry about how hard this is Dad. Hopefully, she will not remember, too much. My daughter just turned 17 and I would take her because it is important and graspable at her age. As for explaining with a 4 year old- If she asks: I would just let her know that either Sam has been found (without explaining), is safe (in the arms of angels if she asks for more information) or is in heaven now (if your family is open about death). It all depends on what your family believes. But, often a simple explanation without detail will work. Chances are she will say, o.k. can I go play now. Often as parents, we give too much information. At 4 she is more worried about Daddy and to her Sam is magical or made-up (not a real person) because she doesn't know her except through you. By dedicating a song to Sam, I think it is more a way of expressing the sadness around her, not a complete understanding of the situation. Hope that helps. :(

Also, if you take them to the area will she pick up on your sadness and make this issue of explaining manifest itself?


RIP SAM
 
I go to that lake many times and had actually been there in November so I can try to help with distance and access. Basically to paint the picture there is a rural type highway, two lane fast moving cars, with lots of turn outs along the way into RV parks, some private drives, etc. Then the entrance to the lake. To get to the lake you simply turn off the main hwy and into the parking lot. When you first pull into the parking lot a hard right takes you to about 6 very simple camping spots. Basically one big open gravel area with parking spaces and fire pits and some wooded space between the hwy and the camping spots. If you are headed to the lake itself you pull around to the other part of the parking lot, it would be the same as moving over one parking isle at a Target, to go park at the trail entrance for the lake. You can not drive onto the lake. In fact you can barely see the lake through the trees from the parking lot. There is a small out house type restroom, a bulletin board with info, and then two trails down. One trail directly to the lake which is indeed narrow flanked by steel poles as mini path guard rails and then another longer more windy totally dirt path to another section of the lake. Both are accessible in the winter but the gravel trail with clear rails is the most used in the winter and leads to a small dock. It would be just wide enough for a snow mobile but definitely not a truck or vehicle.

When I was there in November the parking lot was open and while not officially maintained it was clear enough for a few rough parking spots. The snow packs down in spots people park in a few times over so while it is not smooth it was do able to pull in. Once in you can not see who is in the parking lot from the road and once in the parking lot you can not see who's on the lake well either. If you did have to park out by the locked gate there would be room to park about four cars would be my guess there right in front of the big gate. If you are parked there you would be basically in the entrance to the driveway off of the main hwy so you could see all of the cars parked there while driving by. Im terrible with distance but my best guess at distance would be it's about 1000 ft??? Man I wish I could judge distance better. :) It wouldn't be too terrible and if he had a sled it can actually be fairly easy to pull the sleds along packed snow. Ironically the fuller they are often the smoother and easier they are to pull. It also wouldn't be unusual for someone to hop on a snow mobile from their car and ride in. People ride snow mobiles and four wheelers all around that area so no one would think twice if he had a snow mobile zipping around there. They also make snow mobile trailers that carry game, etc. so that is certainly a possibility too.

Even if you can park right at one of the front lake parking spots you are still looking at a little walk down to the lake down the trail. But again snow mobiles are all over that area so that would be an easy way to haul weight out onto the lake. Not a shed, etc. but anything else.

There is another entrance into the lake from what I would call the back side but it would have to be snow machined into that time of the year because its just rolling slopes and fields of snow. The parking area is far away from there, like a mile, and its private land belonging to the university so that would be MUCH harder than parking in the right spot and going down the trail.

Hope that helps. I did post some photos of the trail leading down to the lake earlier to give some perspective.
 
My guess would be this is where the man lives that says he lives on the lake. This is an RV park that sits above the lake. There are two or three other houses that sit around the lake but one I know looks abandoned. Its like an old coffee shop, barn, type thing. Maybe someone lives there but it doesn't seem so whenever I drive by. The other I've never been able to see the house FROM the lake so although its on the perimeter i'm not sure how well it can see the lake? This place fox run place is almost right next door to the state parking area of the lake. I believe it has two houses on the property that overlook the lake.

Here is the satellite view. If you click on the little person and drag it over to the main road, the Glenn Hwy, you can see the brown wooden state park signs to the entrance of the lake. It is low to the ground, wooden and says Matanuska Lake. The google street view won't go inside the lake parking area but you can see the road around it and the entrance pretty clearly. You can see where the gate swings open so if the gate were locked you'd have to park there, right off the road, and walk in. You can also see from the aerial view the little wooden posts that mark the parking spaces and the trials down to the lake.

http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-...DQ&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&ved=0CBMQ_BI

RV park with residence that sits overlooking the lake.
http://www.karo-ent.com/foxrun.htm
 
What I am curious about is how they got on IK's trail.

Did he give himself away in the video? Maybe you could see his face and they showed it to the other employees and somebody said "I know that guy". Or perhaps his truck is in the video.

Or were they just watching that debit card (that they somehow knew was linked to the abduction), just hoping that the perp would be stupid enough to use it. Then he uses it and all of a sudden they have themselves a suspect.

It'd be kind of crazy to think that if IK hadn't used that ATM card this crime would have been unsolved.
 
What I am curious about is how they got on IK's trail.

Did he give himself away in the video? Maybe you could see his face and they showed it to the other employees and somebody said "I know that guy". Or perhaps his truck is in the video.

Or were they just watching that debit card (that they somehow knew was linked to the abduction), just hoping that the perp would be stupid enough to use it. Then he uses it and all of a sudden they have themselves a suspect.

It'd be kind of crazy to think that if IK hadn't used that ATM card this crime would have been unsolved.

I agree. The only thing I could come up with is perhaps his name has come up before in other missing/unsolved cases. Maybe as a rule out in an FBI database (not that I know anything about those types of records...LOL). Yes, I agree a debit card does not seem like a link. IDK. I am new at this, so maybe others have a better understanding.


I do have a question for some one who knows more about cases like this. The autopsy result is sealed or they aren't releasing any information for awhile. Does the family get to know the cause of death right away, or just LE until it is released? Just curious how that works. Thanks!
 
(NewsCore) - A body discovered in a lake outside Anchorage was confirmed Wednesday as that of missing Alaskan teen barista Samantha Koenig, police told NewsCore.

"We just got confirmation, 20 minutes ago, that it is definitely her," Anchorage police spokesman Dave Parker said.

~~~

Asked about further charges over Koenig's death, Parker said, "It takes a while for charges, but he is being held. We know where he is." He said local authorities were working with the FBI on the case.

~~~

It is not known how authorities knew to look for Koenig in such a specific area of the remote lake. Parker said there would be no further details released until the investigation had progressed.

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpps/news/mi...ig-body-confirmed-dpgonc-20120405-fc_19039424
 
Dad, not sure if you can read this without registering but guys are talking about fishing there within the past couple weeks. http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/111736-Matanuska-Lake

"The water at mat is real clear. I could see all the way down in 13' or so".

IIRC, when describing the dive for Sam's body we were told the water was "murky"..I'll try to find the link..Not that it really matters but interesting there's 2 very diff views re: condition of the lake water.

I just found out 'sonar' was used to locate the body but that still doesn't explain how they knew she was in this lake..I've seen lots of very good theories..I hope at some point we find out the factual scenario.
 
Have I missed any interviews or statements from JK or Chris & his camp since Sam's been found? TIA!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Staff online

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
171
Guests online
3,290
Total visitors
3,461

Forum statistics

Threads
604,305
Messages
18,170,548
Members
232,357
Latest member
LizV
Back
Top