Overview

Last seen: August 10, 2009
Location: Dupont Trail/Thane Campground area and possibly downtown Juneau, Alaska. Frederick Harrison Howard, 47, had been staying at a cabin in the Dupont area. When a relative returned to pick him up, Howard was gone, along with his backpack, boots, and other personal belongings. Authorities believed the circumstances suggested he may have hiked out. People later reported possible sightings of Howard in downtown Juneau on the same date, but he has never been located. His disappearance remains listed by the Juneau Police Department as an unresolved missing-person case.

Detailed Case Breakdown

The Disappearance of Frederick Harrison Howard: Missing from Juneau, Alaska Since 2009

More than seventeen years after Frederick Harrison Howard disappeared from Juneau, Alaska, his name remains on the Juneau Police Department’s list of missing persons. Howard, who went by “Fred,” was 47 years old when he vanished on August 10, 2009. What is publicly known about his disappearance centers on a cabin near Dupont, his apparently missing hiking gear and personal belongings, and reported sightings in downtown Juneau that same day.

Howard had reportedly been staying at a cabin in the Dupont area of Juneau on August 9 and 10, 2009. According to the Juneau Police Department’s current case page, family members returned to the cabin intending to pick him up but discovered that Howard was no longer there. His pack, boots and other personal belongings were gone as well. The circumstances appeared to indicate that Howard had left the cabin and possibly hiked out of the area.

The Charley Project places Howard’s last known whereabouts in the vicinity of Dupont Trail and Thane Campground in Juneau. Its account similarly states that a relative went to the cabin to pick him up and found him gone, with his backpack, boots and other belongings missing. Howard was never heard from again. The organization currently classifies his case as “Lost/Injured Missing.”

There was, however, another potentially important piece of information from August 10. The Juneau Police Department states that some people around Juneau reported seeing Howard in the city’s downtown area that day. The publicly available case summary does not identify those witnesses, specify the precise locations or times of the reported sightings, or state whether investigators were able to independently confirm them.

The sightings leave an important unanswered question: did Howard successfully hike out of the Dupont area and return to populated Juneau before something else happened, or were the reported downtown sightings mistaken? Public case records do not provide enough information to answer that question.

Howard was born November 21, 1961 and was 47 when he disappeared. He stood approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed about 155 pounds. The Juneau Police Department currently describes him as a white male with blond hair and green eyes. The Charley Project lists blond hair but describes his eyes as blue, creating a discrepancy between publicly available descriptions. His nickname was Fred, and his first name has sometimes appeared as “Fredrick” in agency records.

The Investigation and Current Status

The Juneau Police Department case number is 090823-011. NamUs records the disappearance as MP34750 and lists August 10, 2009 as Howard’s date of last contact. The NamUs record was created on April 12, 2021, years after Howard originally disappeared, providing a national missing-person record associated with the case.

The case remains publicly active. As of August 2026, Howard continues to appear on the Juneau Police Department’s current missing-person roster alongside the same August 10, 2009 last-contact date and JPD case number. The department explains that its missing-person information is periodically updated and encourages anyone with information about a missing person to contact JPD.

A case index maintained by CrimeSolversCentral shows Howard’s entry as last updated on August 11, 2026. The refreshed entry continues to identify the Juneau Police Department as the primary agency, carries the same JPD case number and does not report a recovery, arrest, identified suspect or other resolution. Because this is a third-party database rather than an investigative agency, its update date should be understood as a database update rather than evidence that a new investigative development occurred on that date.

The most recent official public information located for Howard does not announce a breakthrough, recovery, identified suspect or determination that a crime occurred. Instead, the Juneau Police Department continues to list him as missing. NamUs likewise continues to maintain MP34750 as a missing-person record.

There is also no public information in the primary case summaries establishing that Howard was the victim of homicide. The known circumstances remain consistent with an unresolved disappearance in which investigators and family were left without a confirmed explanation for what happened after he left the Dupont-area cabin.

What Happened to Frederick Harrison Howard?

The central mystery remains the sequence of events on August 10, 2009. Howard apparently had his backpack, boots and other belongings with him when he left the cabin. If the reported downtown sightings were accurate, he may have reached Juneau after leaving the Dupont area. But no publicly released information establishes where he went afterward.

Years later, there is still no publicly announced answer to whether Howard became lost or injured in the wilderness, encountered an accident elsewhere, deliberately left the area, or met with circumstances that have never been uncovered.

Anyone with information concerning Frederick Harrison Howard’s disappearance in Juneau, Alaska is encouraged to contact the Juneau Police Department at 907-586-0600 and reference JPD case 090823-011.