Missing Anchorage Woman Valerie Sifsof's Family Asks Alaska Bureau of Investigation For Help

Valerie's father, Victor Sifsof, has continued to meet with Alaska police officials and politicians to strategize next steps. The Sifsof family and concerned community members are requesting that the Alaska Bureau of Investigation step in to conduct a serious criminal investigation into Valerie's disappearance.

The fact that family, friends, and law enforcement have throughly covered the area Valerie was last seen with not a trace or clue lead us to believe this is an abduction and/or homicide.

Unfortunately, the division of the Alaska State of Troopers that has been assisting with the search does not have the manpower or expertise to perform  thorough criminal investigations. Without obvious physical evidence of wrong doing, Missing Person cases such as Valerie's are not automatically handled by law enforcement as criminal investigations, as Val's family and the public originally assumed. When Valerie's family discovered, many weeks after she went missing, that possible witnesses had still not been contacted by law enforcement -- the campers who had been registered at the Granite Creek Campground the weekend of July 7th, where Valerie was last seen -- they began calling them themselves. Now they have a relatively fair idea of whom was there. However, possible witnesses were hesitant to speak over the phone with strangers, so in many cases the best the family could do was implore them to contact the Alaska State Troopers and hope they will do so. This is one reason they are requesting state investigators step in.  

They extend a sincere thank you to State Representative Bryce Edgmon and family friend Walter Monegan, President of the Alaska Native Justice Center and former Anchorage Public Safety Officer: both are taking their valuable time to network with law enforcement officials and monitor progress. The Alaska State Troopers involved in search efforts continue to show concern, particularly Srg. Mike Zweifel, who has demonstrated great kindness from day one of the search, and Captian Andy Greenstreet, who is providing guidance on future efforts. 

The family is grateful to the Staff/Choggiung Board of Directors (http://choggiung.com/about/mission.asp) and the Dillingham community, where many of her relatives reside, for their support. 

Also many thanks to those running the Alaska State Fair, who granted permission for a banner and signs to be posted at the fair. Because of this, hundreds of thousands more people will be made aware of the plight to find Valerie Sifsof. 

Thank you also for those who have donated funds and resources to the Search Fund at Wells Fargo Bank and the Reward Fund at the First National Bank of Alaska, which is up to $27,000 and will go to those who bring Valerie back safely, or provide information that leads to the arrest/conviction of those responsible for her disappearance. To make a donation, simply go into any branch of either bank and tell them you want to donate to the Valerie Sifsof Search Account.