ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A body found near Eklutna Lake Tuesday eveninghas been identified as that of a 30-year-old male homicide victim, according to Alaska State Troopers.
AST spokesperson Megan Peters says Loy Suthammavong was identified by state medical examiners. He was reported missing in December from his Houston home; a hiker on snowshoes found his body and called authorities at about 5 p.m. Tuesday.
“It is believed Suthammavong's death was a result of homicide,” Peters wrote in a statement Thursday.
Troopers began a search for Suthammavong Dec. 6 after being informed that his family hadn’t seen him since Dec. 2. Peters says investigators with the Anchorage Police Department, Anchorage Fire Department and the state Division of Fire and Life Safety subsequently determined that the Dec. 6 burning of a vehicle owned by Suthammavong, shortly before a missing-person notice was issued for him, was arson.
“From the onset, circumstances surrounding the apparent disappearance of Suthammavong (were) suspicious and resulted in investigators considering a variety of factors,” Peters wrote. “Among those factors, was knowledge that Suthammavong had recently been convicted and sentenced for two felony drug offenses and was to begin serving his sentence.”
