Tipster charged with murder after police say anonymous call helped solve 30-year disappearance

A 30-year-old Alaska disappearance case was solved after an anonymous tip led investigators to identify Christopher Popps as the alleged killer of Patrick Orville Dearth. Popps was arrested in Michigan in 2026 and faces two counts of second-degree murder, with human remains found in a barrel near Steese Highway confirming Dearth's homicide.