Young Couple Vanished Hiking in Alaska—Nine Months Later, A Ranger Makes a Disturbing Discovery…

I. Misty Morning at Cooper Landing

On the rainy morning of September 12th, 2022, the Kenai River Lodge in Alaska was shrouded in cold drizzle. Tessa Sullivan and Finn Hoffman, a young couple from Oregon, left Cabin 7 with their backpacks, camera, and a promise to check out before noon. But as noon came and went, manager Brenda Riley noticed their absence. The cabin was untouched: jackets, toothbrushes, and two large suitcases remained. Only the couple and their gray Ford Escape rental car were missing.

Brenda called their phones—no answer. By afternoon, dread crept in. The next day, she called the Alaska State Troopers.

II. Lost in the Wild

Sergeant Miles Corrian—a seasoned Kenai Peninsula trooper—took the case. The couple’s families in Oregon confirmed the last contact: a cheerful text from Finn on September 9th, saying they were heading out on the Slaughter Gulch Trail. But when police checked the trailhead, their car wasn’t there. There were no clues, no footprints, no discarded gear.

A massive search began: helicopters, search dogs, and dozens of volunteers combed the vast, unforgiving Alaskan wilderness. But the forest swallowed all trace. No one could answer the question: if they got lost, where was their car? If it was a crime, what was the motive?

III. Hope Flickers, Then Dies

A week later, an elderly gas station attendant in a remote area reported seeing the couple asking for directions to the coast, buying a map and coffee. But the security footage was corrupted—no confirmation. Hope flared, then faded.

As winter arrived and snow blanketed the forests, the search was called off. For the families, the agony of uncertainty was replaced by the dull ache of loss. Tessa and Finn became another unsolved mystery in Alaska’s vast wilds.

IV. A Horrifying Discovery in the Donut Pile

Nine months passed. In early summer 2023, ranger Elias Vance was checking bear bait stations deep in the woods. When he reached station KB117, a strange, sickly-sweet stench hung in the air. He found a large blue plastic barrel overflowing with rotting pastries, swarming with flies. As he looked closer, he froze: two black hiking boots stuck out from the pile.

Police sealed off the scene. The body was identified as Finn Hoffman, killed by a massive blow to the back of his head. But the most disturbing detail: Finn had died only 1–2 weeks earlier. For the rest of the nine months, his body had been kept frozen somewhere before being dumped at the bait station.

V. The Car and the Clues

The case shifted from a hiking accident to a calculated murder. Tessa was still missing.

A month later, two fishermen discovered a submerged SUV in the crystal-clear waters of remote Tosamina Lake. Divers confirmed it was the couple’s gray Ford Escape. Despite water damage, the car’s GPS unit revealed its last journey: it had never gone to Slaughter Gulch, but instead drove straight onto logging roads leading to Tosamina Lake—right up to the border of a large, private property.

The land belonged to Alistister Finch, a 68-year-old hermit who had bought dozens of blue barrels at a seafood plant auction years earlier—the same kind used to conceal Finn’s body.

VI. The Cabin in the Woods

With a search warrant, police and a tactical team raided Finch’s cabin at dawn. He sat quietly, showing no resistance, as if he’d been expecting them.

Inside, they found a recently cleaned industrial freezer glowing blue with traces of blood under luminol. In a locked storage shed, they found Tessa’s turquoise backpack, with her ID inside.

Confronted with the evidence, Finch confessed: On that September day, he found the couple’s car stuck in mud near his property. Tessa and Finn asked for help, but Finch—paranoid and fiercely territorial—refused and ordered them off. When Finn argued back, Finch struck him with his rifle, killing him instantly. He dragged Finn’s body to his freezer and held Tessa captive in his cabin all winter. When the thaw came, he dumped Finn’s body at the bear bait station. Tessa managed to escape into the forest.

VII. A Tragic End

Finch admitted he searched for Tessa for a day, then gave up. Alone, traumatized, and weakened after months of captivity, Tessa tried to survive in the wilderness. A month later, searchers found her remains under a fallen tree, next to a makeshift shelter. She had survived for several days before succumbing to cold and starvation.

Finch was sentenced to life in prison without parole for two counts of murder and kidnapping. He would spend the rest of his days in isolation, this time behind bars.

VIII. The Darkness in the White Wilderness

Tessa and Finn’s story was not an accident. It was a tragedy born of isolation, fear, and the darkness that can exist within the human soul. They came to Alaska seeking adventure, but instead became victims of a hermit haunted by paranoia and loss.

Their smiling photo—once a symbol of hope—now reminds us that in the wild, the greatest danger isn’t always the cold or the bears, but sometimes, other people.