Community Joins Search for Abducted Woman

Anchorage citizens and businesses band together to help find Samantha Koenig

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By Corey Allen-Young
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Story Created: Feb 8, 2012 at 12:25 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Feb 9, 2012 at 10:30 AM AKDT

ANCHORAGE - It has been five days since Samantha Koenig disappeared from a Midtown coffee stand.

Anchorage police say the 18-year-old barista was kidnapped while she worked at Common Grounds Espresso.

Now Koenig's friends and family members are taking matters into their own hands. With a combination of foot searches, signs being posted, flyers being distributed, and a bounty hunter getting involved, its truly a community-wide effort that has only one goal in mind: finding Samantha and bringing her home.

It’s a mission to find Samantha that Jeremy Canaday says he is more than willing to help out with. On this Monday night Jeremy is one of dozens putting up signs and walking on foot to find anything and anybody who might know what happened to her.

The Air Force Staff Sergeant and soon-to-be-dad is looking high and low because he says it could have easily been someone he loves. “It kind of hits home having somebody who’s come up missing,” said Canaday. “It’s like somebody's is missing their daughter.”

John Bacon, who identified himself to KTVA as a private investigator and bounty hunter, is offering his skills for free. “I'm going to hunt the perpetrator down. I'm not going to stop until I find them and I don't care how long it takes.” He says he's finding Samantha and whomever took her. “My goal is to stress on the perpetrator, if I can locate the perp, than hopefully we locate Samantha and bring her back alive and safe.”

It’s what all of Samantha's loved ones want. “Please bring her back to us; I’m begging you,” said Samantha’s mom Darlene Christiansen. Friends and neighbors are doing whatever it takes to bring her back to her family. It’s help that's coming from all over.

Action Sign and Graphics donated five large signs, and there was a large assortment of people who went all over town donating their time to knock on doors, look in snow piles, and even garages to find Samantha.

Police say helping out is okay but people should leave the investigating to them so they can make sure whoever did this crime is caught. Anyone with information about Samantha and this case should call police at 786-8900.
 
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