A 47-year-old Hispanic male, Carlos Alberto Zuniga, lay dead in the deepening shadows of Fairbanks late on the night of May 4, 2017. Neighbors were roused by gunfire ringing through Bunnell Street, near the edges of Creamer's Field, and when first responders arrived, the man's body was discovered at approximately 11:30 p.m. It was the third homicide in Fairbanks in as many weeks. Blood trails and echoes of that night would linger, even as authorities began piecing together what had happened.
The 47-year-old male victim's ethnicity, Hispanic, might have been remarked upon by those who knew and loved him, though official notices framed his passing in tones of shock and grief, speaking only broadly of the “unexpected” nature of his death. He died at the scene, efforts to save the 47-year-old male victim rendered futile as the details of how he came to rest there whispered through a community stunned by each new loss—three in a month—but still searching for answers.
The sorrowful narrative did not stop at the act itself. Not even 72 hours later, law enforcement had a name and a warrant. Joseph Vance Arabie, a 29-year-old male suspect, became the face of the investigation—wanted on a first-degree murder warrant in connection to the shooting of the 47-year-old male victim, 47-year-old Hispanic male Carlos Alberto Zuniga. A striking description circulated: about 6-foot-1, weighing approximately 185 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, and featuring a distinctive tattoo around his neck—a ring of spikes descending inches from his throat. He was believed to be armed and dangerous and last seen in South Fairbanks. Law enforcement repeatedly cautioned the public not to approach him.
Despite the fury of grief surging through the grieving family and a community feeling increasingly unsafe—three homicides in barely a month—the chill of uncertainty refused to ease. There was no sign that the killings were linked, no announced motive, no familiar pattern in the violence. Each was a lone blow in the night. And as for the identity of the murderer—the question that weighed on every restless heart—only one name emerged: that of Joseph Vance Arabie, the 29-year-old male suspect, now the focus of a manhunt for the death of the 47-year-old male, Hispanic, Carlos Alberto Zuniga.
