Overview

Last known date: December 2, 2020
Location: Beach Road, Haines, Alaska
Age: 30
Status: Missing; presumed deceased following the landslide
NamUs: MP76236
Haines Borough Police case: 20-000182

David Anthony Simmons disappeared on December 2, 2020, when a catastrophic landslide swept through the Beach Road area of Haines, Alaska. Simmons and 23-year-old Jenae Larson were the only two people who remained missing after four others initially reported missing were located safely. Authorities eventually suspended active search operations because unstable ground, continued rainfall and the threat of additional landslides made entering the debris field too dangerous.

Simmons’ remains have not been publicly reported as recovered. His NamUs record, MP76236, remains publicly accessible, and current case databases continue to list him as missing. There is no credible public evidence indicating that his disappearance resulted from a homicide; subsequent geological work found environmental conditions consistent with a catastrophic natural landslide.

Detailed Case Breakdown

David Anthony Simmons Missing in Haines, Alaska: The 2020 Beach Road Landslide Case

Brief Case Summary

Last known date: December 2, 2020
Location: Beach Road, Haines, Alaska
Age: 30
Status: Missing; presumed deceased following the landslide
NamUs: MP76236
Haines Borough Police case: 20-000182

David Anthony Simmons disappeared on December 2, 2020, when a catastrophic landslide swept through the Beach Road area of Haines, Alaska. Simmons and 23-year-old Jenae Larson were the only two people who remained missing after four others initially reported missing were located safely. Authorities eventually suspended active search operations because unstable ground, continued rainfall and the threat of additional landslides made entering the debris field too dangerous.

Simmons’ remains have not been publicly reported as recovered. His NamUs record, MP76236, remains publicly accessible, and current case databases continue to list him as missing. There is no credible public evidence indicating that his disappearance resulted from a homicide; subsequent geological work found environmental conditions consistent with a catastrophic natural landslide.

Who Was David Anthony Simmons?

David Anthony Simmons was 30 years old when he disappeared in Haines, a small Southeast Alaska community where he had established both a home and a career.

Simmons was serving as interim executive director of the Haines Economic Development Corporation. Before settling in Alaska, he had traveled extensively and lived abroad. According to reporting from Alaska’s News Source, Simmons had been a Fulbright scholar working through the U.S. Embassy in Minsk, Belarus, and later established a transportation and tour business serving Haines and the Yukon Territory.

He had originally come to Haines to visit a cousin and ultimately decided that the community was where he wanted to make his permanent home. His father, Randy Simmons, described him as an adventurer who had visited nearly 80 countries before falling in love with Haines.

The December 2, 2020 Haines Landslide

Days of extremely heavy rain had saturated the Haines area when disaster struck on December 2, 2020.

A massive landslide came down the mountainside above Beach Road, destroying homes and carrying debris toward the shoreline. News reports described the debris field as approximately 600 feet wide. David Simmons’ property was directly in the slide’s path.

Simmons lived at the Beach Road property. Jenae Larson, a 23-year-old kindergarten teacher, rented an apartment above his detached garage. A relative identified their location as the area of 608 Beach Road South.

Simmons’ father had spoken with him shortly before the disaster. Randy Simmons told reporters that their conversation occurred approximately two hours before the slide. In later reporting, he recalled speaking with David roughly an hour beforehand while David was working on his computer and looking toward Full Moon Cove.

Then the mountain came down.

Six Initially Missing, Four Found Safe

Immediately after the landslide, authorities were trying to account for several residents.

Six people were initially reported missing. Four were subsequently located and confirmed safe, leaving only David Simmons and Jenae Larson unaccounted for.

Local responders, Alaska State Troopers, the Coast Guard and other search personnel mobilized.

The conditions made a conventional ground search extraordinarily dangerous. Search crews were able to conduct aerial operations and examine shoreline areas, but the main debris field remained unstable. Continued rain created an additional risk that rescuers themselves could be caught in another slide.

Search for David Simmons and Jenae Larson Suspended

By December 7, 2020, authorities faced the increasingly difficult conclusion that continuing to put searchers onto the slide could result in additional deaths.

Alaska State Troopers suspended active search operations because of continued rainfall, unstable terrain and the likelihood of additional landslides. Ground search personnel departed the area by boat, although authorities said new evidence or information could potentially change the situation.

Haines Mayor Douglas Olerud told the community at the time that Simmons and Larson were more than likely deceased and that officials could not justify risking additional lives by sending rescuers into the unstable debris field.

Their disappearance therefore became an unusual kind of missing-person case: authorities and their families had compelling evidence of what happened, but the physical conditions surrounding the disaster prevented the recovery of their remains.

What Investigators Learned About the Landslide

The investigation did not end when the physical search was suspended.

The state commissioned an extensive geotechnical investigation of the Beach Road landslide area. Researchers studied ground movement, slope stability, water and debris flows, geological hazards and the possibility of future slides.

The findings, reported in 2022 after more than a year of investigation, determined that loose, saturated soil and weak underlying bedrock were major factors in the catastrophic failure. Approximately eight inches of rain had fallen within 24 hours before the landslide.

Researchers determined that the hillside was relatively stable at the time of their later study but warned that another extreme rain event or a significant earthquake could trigger renewed movement. They recommended continued monitoring and measures such as improved drainage and rainfall-based evacuation planning.

Nothing in the publicly available investigation indicates that the event was intentionally caused or that criminal activity was responsible for Simmons’ disappearance.

David Simmons Remains a Missing-Person Case

There is an important distinction between how Simmons is remembered locally and how his case exists within missing-person databases.

Family members, local officials and subsequent news coverage have described Simmons as having died in the December 2, 2020 disaster. His obituary also identifies December 2, 2020, as his date of death.

However, because his remains have not been publicly reported as recovered, David Anthony Simmons also remains represented as a missing person.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System maintains his record as NamUs MP76236. The NamUs page was still publicly accessible when checked on August 17, 2026. NamUs explains generally that unresolved missing-person records remain published until the missing person is located, after which the record can be archived.

Crime Solvers Central also continued to list Simmons as missing in a case record updated August 7, 2026. That listing identifies the Haines Borough Police Department as the primary law-enforcement agency and gives the local case number as 20-000182.

CrimeTea likewise currently identifies David Anthony Simmons as an active missing-person case and associates him with NamUs MP76236.

No credible public report located through August 17, 2026 indicates that David Simmons’ remains have been recovered or that his NamUs case has been resolved.

Remembering David in Haines

The site where Simmons’ home once stood has become a place of remembrance.

In 2023, David’s father, Randy Simmons, returned to Haines and constructed an observation deck on the Beach Road property overlooking Portage Cove and the surrounding mountains. He described it as a place where people who knew David could visit, remember him and appreciate the view that David loved.

Other memorials have also honored Simmons and Larson. A memorial table and benches were established at Picture Point, and plans were reported to dedicate a local Little League field in David Simmons’ name.

More than five years after the landslide, David Anthony Simmons remains simultaneously remembered as one of the victims of one of Haines’ most devastating modern natural disasters and formally documented as a missing person whose remains have never been publicly reported recovered.