Michael P. Pope was a White/Caucasian male, age 51, from Fairbanks, Alaska. He was reported missing on December 4, 2015, after not being heard from since late November. Days later, search efforts led investigators to his rural property, where he had been building a cabin; there they discovered remains later identified as his, and authorities determined he died from a fatal gunshot.
Alaska State Troopers quickly focused on the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the 51-year-old male, tracing his last known movements and executing search warrants tied to his land in the Chena Pump area. On December 14–15, 2015, Troopers announced the recovery of a body believed to be the missing 51-year-old man on his property and confirmed that a suspect had been arrested in connection with the death.
Within that same week, investigators arrested Monica Dee Forbes and charged her with first-degree murder in the death of the 51-year-old male. According to subsequent reporting, the case alleged that Forbes shot him as he slept and enlisted Sean Cameron Jenkins to help bury the body on the property.
The criminal case moved through the courts over the following year. In October 2016, Forbes pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, and in April 2017 a judge sentenced her to 23 years in prison under a plea agreement that capped the possible sentence at 30 years. Jenkins, who admitted helping after the killing, received a sentence of nearly three years for his role.
