Overview

Dennis Adrian Slats was 35 years old when he disappeared from the remote Alaska community of Chevak in March 2021. His disappearance is closely connected in public records to that of 22-year-old James Bennet Tikiun and to a devastating fire that destroyed Chevak’s abandoned former school building on March 8, 2021. More than five years later, the central question remains unanswered: what happened to Dennis and James?

Dennis is listed in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System under NamUs case MP78707, with a date of last contact of March 7, 2021. An Alaska State Troopers case number associated with his disappearance is AK21023850.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Dennis Adrian Slats Missing in Chevak, Alaska: The 2021 Disappearance and School Fire

Dennis Adrian Slats was 35 years old when he disappeared from the remote Alaska community of Chevak in March 2021. His disappearance is closely connected in public records to that of 22-year-old James Bennet Tikiun and to a devastating fire that destroyed Chevak’s abandoned former school building on March 8, 2021. More than five years later, the central question remains unanswered: what happened to Dennis and James?

Dennis is listed in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System under NamUs case MP78707, with a date of last contact of March 7, 2021. An Alaska State Troopers case number associated with his disappearance is AK21023850.

Dennis Slats’ Last Known Movements

According to Dennis’ sister, Gretch Chayalkun, Dennis left on the evening of Sunday, March 7, 2021, heading toward a store on an ATV. She told reporters that he was last seen near the old school. Dennis and James Tikiun were known to sometimes spend time beneath the abandoned building.

NamUs records for James state that James and Dennis were last seen at the old abandoned school building in Chevak. Both men have a March 7, 2021 date of last contact.

At the time, there was no indication that either man had traveled away from the community. Chevak Vice Mayor Ulric Ulroan told KYUK that both men had been in the village before the fire and that no nearby community had received the travel requests that were then required under pandemic-era restrictions.

Fire Destroys the Old Chevak School

During the early hours of March 8, 2021, the abandoned former school burned to the ground.

The timing immediately raised concern because Dennis and James had been associated with the building shortly before the fire. Alaska State Troopers and deputy fire marshals reached Chevak on March 9 to investigate. Investigators determined that the fire had started underneath the old school’s gym, but the cause was not determined in the initial investigation.

The destruction also caused a major local emergency. Water and sewer lines near the building were damaged, leaving numerous homes without basic utilities. Chevak did not have its own fire department, and severe weather initially complicated the state’s response.

Search for Dennis Slats and James Tikiun

Family members, residents and search-and-rescue volunteers began looking throughout Chevak. Homes and other locations in the village were checked, but the searches did not locate either man.

Investigators also searched the fire scene. No human remains were found during the initial examination, but authorities emphasized that the search of the debris had been limited. The site contained asbestos and other hazardous materials, making a detailed examination dangerous. Heavy snow fell over the site shortly after the fire, further complicating the effort.

Because of those conditions, investigators could not immediately rule out the possibility that Dennis and James had been inside the building when it burned. At the same time, authorities had not established that either man died in the fire. Their disappearance therefore remained unresolved rather than being classified publicly as a confirmed fatality.

$2.5 Million Approved for Cleanup and Search

By late March 2021, Chevak had declared a state of emergency because the community lacked the money and equipment necessary to safely clean up the burned school site. Hazardous debris, including asbestos, remained a major concern.

In May 2021, the State of Alaska announced $2.5 million in funding for cleanup of the site. Officials said the work would include asbestos removal and efforts to search for remains of the two missing men who might have died in the fire.

The funding was significant because removing the hazardous debris offered an opportunity for a more complete examination of an area investigators had been unable to safely search immediately after the fire.

What Is Known — and What Remains Unproven

The circumstances have naturally generated theories, particularly because Dennis and James disappeared at approximately the same time that a building they were known to visit was destroyed.

However, the publicly available evidence does not establish that Dennis or James died in the fire, nor does it establish that the fire was intentionally connected to their disappearances. Initial investigators found no human remains and did not determine the cause of the blaze.

Likewise, publicly available records do not identify a suspect or describe evidence establishing that Dennis was the victim of a homicide.

For that reason, the case is most accurately described as an unresolved missing-person investigation involving a suspiciously close sequence of events, rather than a confirmed murder case.

Latest Publicly Available Case Information

Dennis’ NamUs record, MP78707, remains publicly accessible and continues to identify March 7, 2021 as his date of last contact. The Alaska State Troopers case reference associated with the disappearance is AK21023850.

Alaska’s 2026 first-quarter Missing Alaska Natives & American Indians report, covering records through March 31, 2026, continues to contain a Dennis Slats entry with a March 7, 2021 date of last contact and lists the circumstance category as “Environment.” This indicates that a Slats case with that disappearance date remained in the state’s missing-person reporting system into 2026.

There is an important data discrepancy in that state report: other fields in its Dennis Slats row, including the listed community and birth date, conflict with the established Chevak case information reported by NamUs and contemporary news coverage. Those conflicting fields should therefore not be used as biographical information about Dennis Adrian Slats without clarification from Alaska DPS.

A March 2025 case article continued to describe Dennis’ disappearance as unresolved, and current case-directory records continue to publish Dennis as missing. No reliable public source located for this update reports that Dennis has been found or that investigators have publicly announced a definitive explanation for his disappearance.

Very Brief Case Summary

Last seen: March 7, 2021
Location: Chevak, Alaska, with the old abandoned school identified in case records as a last-known location.

Main circumstances: Dennis Slats disappeared at the same time as James Tikiun. The abandoned school associated with their last-known whereabouts burned the following morning. Searches of Chevak did not locate either man. Investigators initially found no human remains, but hazardous materials and heavy snowfall limited examination of the ruins. State funding was later approved to clean the site and allow additional searching. Dennis remains the subject of a publicly documented missing-person case.