The body of a man found off Peger Road and Eagan Avenue Saturday night is believed to be that of a 21-year-old missing since December.
Multiple family members identified the man in social media posts as Devin Standifer, who went missing in early December 2024. Fairbanks police have not officially identified the body, pending autopsy results.
Fairbanks Police Department spokesperson Teal Soden said a man walking near the intersection of Peger Road and Eagan Avenue discovered the body. Police sent the body to the state medical examiner, who will perform an autopsy, confirm the identity and determine the cause of death. When asked if foul play is suspected, Soden said police are awaiting the medical examiner’s findings.
Family members and friends of Standifer posted on Facebook Sunday morning that his body had been found.
The body was discovered approximately two miles from where Standifer was last seen on Dec. 7.
According to a January news release from FPD, Standifer and several others had been hanging out and drinking heavily at a 21st Avenue apartment on the night of Dec. 6, 2024.
Standifer and another man at the apartment got into a fight over theft accusations but continued socializing afterward. Standifer was reportedly still awake when the man went to sleep around 5 a.m.
A woman in the apartment later woke up to an alarm around 6:10 a.m. and reportedly walked in on Standifer sexually assaulting another woman, which she then reported to police.
Standifer allegedly ran out of the apartment after the woman called 911. His shoes and phone were found outside the building.
According to the Tanana Chiefs Conference, security footage later showed Standifer walking behind the Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center after leaving the 21st Avenue area.
Contact Haley Lehman at 907-459-7575 or by email at hlehman@newsminer.com.
