Anonymous Confession Leads to Arrest in Cold Case Murder

A mysterious tipster who said he'd killed a man near Fairbanks in 1993 has now been arrested for that very crime, Alaska authorities say. Alaska State Troopers allege the caller was 54-year-old Michigan resident Christopher Popps, who has been indicted on two counts of second-degree murder in the death of former co-worker Patrick Orville Dearth, Fox News reports. Dearth, 34, vanished in November 1993, and the case went cold for more than three decades. The anonymous confession came in January 2025, but deep snow and little daylight delayed the search.

When investigators returned to a remote stretch of the Steese Highway in May referred to by the caller, they found human remains in a barrel down a steep embankment; the state medical examiner later identified the body as Dearth and ruled his death a homicide, the Detroit News reports. Troopers say Popps and Dearth worked together, and an argument at an auto shop allegedly ended with Popps shooting Dearth and disposing of the body, Alaska Public Media reports. Officials say Popps made multiple anonymous calls to Alaska agencies before being identified. Michigan State Police arrested him near Kalamazoo on Thursday; he is being held pending extradition to Alaska.