State officials are investigating human remains discovered Monday by crews working on the Haines Highway project. As KHNS’ Corinne Smith reports, authorities aren’t sure exactly what they’ve found but have paused construction in the area in the meantime.
Any time human remains are discovered on a worksite it triggers an investigation.
Department of Transportation spokesperson Sam Dapcevich says Monday was no exception when crews doing excavation work on the Haines Highway made a discovery.
“When we do locate human remains, we have a policy and a plan for each project. And specifically, any remains that we locate are treated with dignity and respect,” Dapcevich said.
Dapcevich says they are not disclosing the location, to protect the site. He said Wednesday the area has been marked off, and work in that area has been stopped to prevent further disturbance.
“We immediately notify the (Alaska) State Troopers, the Missing Persons Bureau, the Alaska State Medical Examiner, the Haines Police Department, the Alaska office of history and archaeology, and the local tribes.”
The first step is determining whether the remains are recent or historic, according to John Kajdan, a DOT project manager. If relatively recent, it could be evidence of a crime. Law enforcement and the medical examiners offices will work to identify the individual, and see if it’s related to a missing persons or even a murder case.
If the remains are from antiquity, a cultural and archeological investigation will take place in coordination with local tribal governments. In this case, that’d be the Chilkoot Indian Association and the Chilkat Indian Village of Klukwan.
Chilkoot Indian Association president James Hart says his phone rang Tuesday morning.
“I drove out there to speak with the archaeologists and kind of figure out are these human remains, and where they came from,” he said.
Hart says the tribe has a formal agreement with state agencies and federal highway officials that guide what happens next.
“The Chilkoot Indian Association and Chilkat Indian Village (of Klukwan), and the state will come together and convene and figure out wishes of the tribe and how to handle the remains,” he said.
To date, officials have released little information about the nature of the remains. DOT has also not said when work will resume in that area on the Haines Highway project, which is to upgrade the highway to a 55 mph design standard by realigning, widening and straightening portions of the roadway.
The project is expected to be completed in September.
