Overview

Last seen: July 5, 2018
Location: Alakanuk, Alaska — reportedly near the village dump
Age when missing: 19
Home community: Emmonak, Alaska
Case type: Missing person
NamUs: MP51431
Alaska DPS case: AK18047194

Main circumstances: Samuel traveled to Alakanuk to visit friends. Investigators determined that he was last seen near the village dump while reportedly highly intoxicated. Local searches, a search-dog effort and an aerial search failed to locate him. He has not been heard from since. Alaska’s official missing-person reporting continued to list him as missing as of the state’s 2025 second-quarter report.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Samuel Jay Moses: The 2018 Disappearance from Alakanuk, Alaska

Samuel Jay Moses was 19 years old when he disappeared from Alakanuk, Alaska, on July 5, 2018. Moses, who was from Emmonak, had traveled to the coastal Alaska Native village to visit friends. He was last reported seen near the Alakanuk village dump while in what authorities described at the time as a highly intoxicated condition. He has not been seen or heard from since.

The Disappearance of Samuel Jay Moses

According to Alaska State Troopers information reported by KTUU, Moses traveled from Emmonak to Alakanuk to spend time with friends. Investigators subsequently determined that the last known sighting of him occurred around the village dump on July 5, 2018. He was reportedly heavily intoxicated when he was seen there. What happened after that sighting remains unknown.

Moses was described as an Alaska Native man with brown hair and hazel eyes. At the time of his disappearance, he was approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed about 169 pounds. Sources have described his clothing as including a brown hooded sweatshirt, light blue denim jeans and black shoes or work boots.

Samuel Was Reported Missing

Although Moses was last seen July 5, KTUU reported that his disappearance was reported to the Village Public Safety Officer in Emmonak on July 8, 2018. The Alaska State Troopers then investigated the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

The Alaska Department of Public Safety case reference associated with Samuel’s disappearance is AK18047194. NamUs identifies the case as MP51431.

Search Efforts in Alakanuk

Initial search efforts concentrated on the location where Samuel had reportedly last been seen. Authorities said an initial search was conducted in and around the Alakanuk dump. Because the dump itself was not located next to a body of water, searchers initially focused on the surrounding land.

Bethel Search and Rescue later traveled to Alakanuk with a search dog, and the area was searched further. An aerial search was also conducted with assistance from Grant Aviation. Despite those efforts, investigators reported that Samuel was not located.

The absence of publicly reported physical evidence has left investigators and Samuel’s family with few confirmed clues about where he went after leaving the dump area.

What Authorities Currently Say About the Case

Samuel remains listed in official Alaska missing-person records. An Alaska Department of Public Safety quarterly report covering missing Alaska Native, American Indian and unknown-race persons as of June 30, 2025 identifies Samuel Moses of Alakanuk, gives his July 5, 2018 date of last contact, lists DPS as the investigating agency and categorizes the circumstances as “Environment.”

That classification is important because publicly available state records do not currently classify Samuel’s disappearance as a homicide. There is also no publicly announced suspect, arrest or confirmed criminal explanation for his disappearance in the official information reviewed for this article.

A case page maintained by Crime Solvers Central was updated on August 14, 2026 and continues to describe Samuel’s disappearance as unresolved, with the Alaska State Troopers listed as the primary investigating agency. That site reports no significant publicly disclosed investigative breakthrough. Because it is a third-party case database, official law-enforcement records should be relied upon for any change in Samuel’s status.

Years Without Answers

Samuel’s disappearance has continued to receive attention from missing-person advocates and online communities. The Websleuths discussion dedicated to his case continued to receive updates years after he vanished, including a 2024 post noting that he remained listed in NamUs and a January 2026 post linking to additional awareness coverage.

Facebook awareness posts have also continued circulating Samuel’s photograph and case information. These posts can help keep an older missing-person investigation visible, although information appearing in social-media comments should be considered unverified unless independently confirmed by investigators.

The Questions That Remain

The central unanswered question is what happened after Samuel was last seen near the Alakanuk dump. Investigators publicly established that he had been drinking, was considered vulnerable because of his condition and disappeared without further confirmed contact. Searches of the known area did not locate him.

No publicly released evidence reviewed for this article establishes that Samuel voluntarily left the community, suffered an accidental death, entered a body of water, became the victim of a crime or encountered some other circumstance. Those possibilities should not be presented as established facts.

Samuel Jay Moses remains one of Alaska’s long-term missing Indigenous people, and his case remains unresolved.

Brief Case Summary

Last seen: July 5, 2018
Location: Alakanuk, Alaska — reportedly near the village dump
Age when missing: 19
Home community: Emmonak, Alaska
Case type: Missing person
NamUs: MP51431
Alaska DPS case: AK18047194

Main circumstances: Samuel traveled to Alakanuk to visit friends. Investigators determined that he was last seen near the village dump while reportedly highly intoxicated. Local searches, a search-dog effort and an aerial search failed to locate him. He has not been heard from since. Alaska’s official missing-person reporting continued to list him as missing as of the state’s 2025 second-quarter report.