FBI Searches Matanuska Lake for Evidence in Koenig Kidnapping Case

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By Kirsten Swann

Story Created: Apr 2, 2012 at 5:47 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Apr 2, 2012 at 9:38 PM AKDT

UPDATE - APD Chief says Koenig is dead.

UPDATE - Authorities believe Keyes is the person who killed her; he acted alone, and she died within a few hours of her abduction. She was found by a forensic dive team today, April 2.

PALMER - The search for 18-year-old Samantha Koenig brought the FBI to Matanuska Lake Monday afternoon.

A large area around the lake was cordoned off, and a handful of orange and white tents were set up along the ice. Agents removed large chunks of the frozen lake surface with saws and snow machines, and about 20 people stood across the ice. Darrin Jones, a spokesman for the FBI, confirmed the agents were looking for evidence in regards to Koenig's kidnapping February 1.

Nearly a month-and-a-half after surveillance video footage showed Koenig was abducted by an unidentified man from the Midtown coffee stand where she worked, 34-year-old Israel Keyes was arrested in Lufkin, TX, on access device fraud charges in connection with her case. Law enforcement officers found a stolen Visa debit card and rolls of cash in his car when they arrested him March 13, and he remains in federal custody while awaiting trial in Anchorage.

March 30, FBI agents seized a small shed from the driveway of Keyes' Turnagain home to search for forensic evidence in connection with the case. 

This is a developing story.

 
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