In the late summer of 2023, concern began to grow for 18-year-old Ataja Banks of Anchorage, Alaska. Her family last had contact with her in mid-September of that year, a silence that became increasingly unsettling as days turned into weeks. The Anchorage Police Department began an official investigation into her disappearance in November 2023, after she was formally reported missing on October 21, 2023. At the time she went missing, her family was unsure where she had been staying.
Authorities released her description, noting she stood 5'4" and weighed around 135 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, in the hope that the public could provide information.
As the investigation progressed, it was determined that Ataja was last known to be alive not in Anchorage, but in the Mat-Su Valley. This finding led the Alaska State Troopers to take over the case from the Anchorage Police Department. For nearly two years, her whereabouts remained a painful mystery for her loved ones and the community. The search for answers continued, with law enforcement piecing together the timeline of her last known movements and activities. The transition of the case to the State Troopers signified a shift in the geographical focus of the search, extending into the sprawling region north of Anchorage.
A tragic discovery brought the search for Ataja to a devastating close. On September 4, 2025, human remains were located in a grim scene near Moose Meadows Road in Wasilla. Later that month, on September 23, Alaska State Troopers publicly confirmed the remains had been positively identified as Ataja Banks. The State Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy, and her next of kin were notified of the heartbreaking news. Investigators stated that information uncovered during the course of the investigation led them to believe that Ataja had been murdered, and the Alaska Bureau of Investigation officially began treating her death as a homicide.
The case saw a significant development on March 5, 2026, when a Palmer Grand Jury indicted 22-year-old Wasilla resident Ian Millard for her murder. The following day, the Alaska State Trooper SWAT team arrested Millard on Knik Goose Bay Road. He was subsequently charged with Murder in the Second Degree, Manslaughter, and Tampering with Physical Evidence. The investigation into Ataja's death had shifted from a missing person case to a homicide investigation and now, a criminal prosecution. This overview encapsulates the journey of the case: the initial report of a missing young woman from Anchorage, the two-year search that ended with the sorrowful discovery of her remains in Wasilla, and the eventual arrest of a suspect charged with her murder, bringing a new phase of the search for justice for Ataja Banks.Last Seen: Sep 14, 2023
