Search to be held in Ninilchik for missing woman

Update: This story has been updated to note that a canvass also will be done on Saturday in the Anchor Point area.

The search continues for missing Homer woman Anesha “Duffy” Murnane, 38.

Murnane has been missing since Oct. 17 after she was last seen in a security camera image leaving her Main Street apartment. Her mother is Sara Berg and her step-father is Ed Berg.

A canvass of the Anchor Point and Ninilchik areas will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14. Volunteers will meet at the parking lot of Anchor Point Fire & Emergency Services, 72440 Milo Fritz Ave., or Ninilchik Emergency Services, 15727 Kingsley Road. Ed Berg said volunteers will be given maps to drive around neighborhoods, pass out flyers and help let the community know about Murnane.

Homer Police Lt. Ryan Browning said police don’t have any new information on the case.

“We follow up leads that come in and they don’t go anywhere,” Browning said. “… We’re doing everything we can. There’s not much right now.”

The Alaska Department of Public Safety also recently updated its Missing Person Clearinghouse, according to a press release last week. That list contains 1,239 names of people missing in Alaska since 1960 through Dec. 1, and includes Murnane.

Murnane’s family has added a $10,000 reward offered through Crimestoppers for any information leading to her return. Anonymous tips can be given to Crimestoppers by calling 907-283-8477. Information on the case is at the Peninsula Crime Stoppers page at www.peninsulacrimestoppers.com.

Murnane’s family has a Facebook page, Bring Duffy Home, and a Go Fund Me account to raise money to assist the search.

She disappeared on Oct. 17 after leaving her Main Street apartment for an appointment at the SVT Health & Wellness clinic on East End Road. The last confirmed sighting is a security camera photo showing her leaving the Maintree Apartments, a supported housing complex, about 12:15 p.m. that day. Murnane had a 1 p.m. appointment at SVT Health and Wellness Center, about a 1-mile walk from her home. She did not show up for that appointment.

Homer Police and Alaska State Troopers issued a Silver Alert on Oct. 19 for Murnane after she was reported missing that day. Anyone with information on her whereabouts can call Homer Police at 907-235-3150 or the Silver Alert hotline at 855-SILVR99 or 855-745-8799. A Silver Alert is for an adult considered a vulnerable person.

Murnane was wearing a blue jacket, light-blue shirt and blue jeans the last time she was seen. She is almost 6 feet tall, weighs about 160 pounds and has shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes. She carried a pink-and-black plaid purse with a shoulder strap and carried her wallet, cell phone and identification. Police said she does not drive or own a vehicle and got around by walking.

The weekend after Murnane went missing, search and rescue dog teams from Anchorage tracked her in the downtown area, picking up scents from Main Street to Lee Drive, Svedlund Street, Pioneer Avenue and Kachemak Way. Search dogs got strong scents in the Kachemak Way to Pioneer Avenue area near Cosmic Kitchen, in front of Homer’s Jeans and the Kachemak Bay Campus. Murnane frequently ate at Cosmic Kitchen.

However, the dogs could no longer follow a scent and acted as if there had been what search dog handlers call a “car pick up.”

Murnane’s family say they believe someone picked her up in a vehicle and that she has been abducted.

Police feel confident they have ruled out Murnane disappearing in the downtown area near her home and getting lost because of illness or injury. Police haven’t found anything to suggest she had suicidal or depressive thoughts or that she talked about disappearing.

Reach Michael Armstrong at marmstrong@homernews.com.

A poster for Anesha “Duffy” Murnane, missing since Oct. 17, 2019, from Homer, Alaska. (Photo courtesy of the Murnane family)

A poster for Anesha “Duffy” Murnane, missing since Oct. 17, 2019, from Homer, Alaska. (Photo courtesy of the Murnane family)

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