A 20-year-old Hooper Bay man was arrested Saturday “in the violent murder” of two 18-year-old women who were found dead in Southwest Alaska on Wednesday, Alaska State Troopers said Sunday.
Shaquille Carawan was jailed at the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center in Bethel on charges that include first- and second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and furnishing alcohol to minors in a dry community, according to a summary posted by troopers online.
Troopers said Novely Rivers and Abigail Olson were found dead early Wednesday at a residence in Hooper Bay. The village, with about 1,300 residents, is located along the Bering Sea coast on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
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Dozens of law enforcement officers — including troopers, Village Public Safety Officers from multiple locations and officers from the Alaska Bureau of Investigation, FBI Safe Streets Task Force and other units — investigated the two deaths as homicides, troopers said.
Few additional details were released on Sunday.
The City of Hooper Bay and Native Village of Hooper Bay said Friday they were offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the person or people responsible for Rivers’ and Olson’s deaths, troopers said.
On Sunday, the Alaska Bureau of Investigation thanked the community of Hooper Bay for their assistance and for providing tips and information that aided the investigation, troopers said.