Kolivosky Kicks Off the Investigation

Excerpts from the unpublished original manuscript, “Sailor Take Warning,” by Leland E. Hale. That manuscript, started in 1992 and based on court records from the Alaska State Archive, served as the basis for “What Happened in Craig.” In this installment, Capt. Mike Kolivosky kicks off the trooper investigation. 

As the troopers headed back toward town, they regained their full complement of officers. There were now four of them: Capt. Kolivosky; Lt. McCoy, Trooper Anderson and VSPO Jerry Mackie. It was Kolivosky who ticked off the list of things that had to be done.

This much they knew: the suspect had escaped the crime scene — and there were only three ways off the island. One was by airplane, another by boat, and the third required catching a ferry on the other side of Prince of Wales Island. If possible, they needed to lock down all three routes or, at the very least, identify whether their suspect had already left Craig. That meant following five distinct paths:

  • They should check with the local airline to see if a young man matching the eyewitness description had caught a float plane out of town;
  • They should make contacts within the local fishing fleet to see if someone matching the suspect’s description was among them;
  • They should check with the ferry terminal in Hollis, 30 miles on the other side island, to see if the suspect had caught a ferry to Ketchikan;
  • They should start canvassing local establishments to locate additional witnesses and, possibly, the suspect himself;
  • And they should provide the local police with the eyewitness description of the suspect, and thereby extend the reach of their search.

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Tyee Airlines flight schedule, Summer 1982


In the next few installments, we will examine each of these five investigative pillars in turn. For now, know that Kolivosky faced a formidable task, whether he realized it or not.

  • Though two more troopers were on their way to assist the investigation, they would be at the Investor crime scene in Ben’s Cove — and unable to assist the on-shore investigation in the critical near-term;
  • The 144 fishing boats in Craig were starting to scatter to other locations — it was the end of the season for some; others were off to the last opening, near Petersburg;
  • The moorage situation in Craig was chaotic, with fishing vessels scattered in multiple locations, complicating the search for their suspect (witness the Casino, which was at the city float — and hundreds of yards from the North Cove where the Investor had been moored);
  • While the ferry terminal in Hollis was only 30 miles from Craig, it was isolated, with precious little civilization in the vicinity and few witnesses to call upon, save for ferry workers;
  • The island is huge: 135 miles long, 45 miles wide and 2,577 square miles in all. There was a vast network of logging roads scattered across the island, in a 2,500 mile road system with plenty of places for a suspect to disappear, at least for a while.

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Craig City float where the Casino was moored; note the cannery boat Libby No. 2 in the background, as well as all manner of water craft in the foreground.

Copyright Leland E. Hale (2018). All rights reserved.


Craig

Order “What Happened In Craig,” HERE and HERE, true crime from Epicenter Press about Alaska’s Worst Unsolved Mass Murder.

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