The Anchorage Police Department says they have a lead in the recent death of 21-year-old Treyveonkindell Thompson. He was found dead in the area of Duben Avenue and Bolin Street around 3:20 a.m. on July 29.
Police have spoken to multiple witnesses, some of whom have helped police develop a sketch of a person of interest in the case, shown above. Sgt. Slawomir Markiewicz said at a press conference Sunday that the person may have information helpful to the investigation.
“At this point, we have a person of interest, we have that there’s a person that was seen in the area,” he said. “That person may have some knowledge of what happened or some information about the case.”
Markiewicz said the sketch had been handed out to all officers, who were asked to show the sketch to anyone they believed could help identify him.
“Those efforts haven’t produced some solid results,” he said. “We’re at the point where we’ve exhausted our efforts and we felt that in this type of a case, we should have more information for people out there who know something and we’ve decided that it’s time to get the public involved and help us solve this case.”
Bike similar to Treyveonkindell Thompson’s bicycle. Photo: Anchorage Police Department
He said police are also looking for a yellow bicycle Thompson was known to ride frequently, including the night he was killed. Police did not find the bike in the area where Thompson was killed. He said theft was being considered, but ultimately said police wouldn’t speculate on the motive of Thompson’s killer.
Anyone with information on the identity of the person of interest or about Thompson’s death is asked to call the FBI tip line at 907-276-4441. Markiewicz said the FBI offered to help in this case and is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction in this case.
When asked about the FBI’s involvement in the case, Markiewicz said it wasn’t an uncommon practice or indicative of a larger criminal element. He said the press conference was specifically about the Thompson case and declined to answer additional questions about its possible connection to other Anchorage homicides, including three others that occurred the same week Thompson died.
Since Jan. 1, police say they have investigated 21 homicides involving 25 victims, as well as two officer-involved shootings. In 11 cases, at least one suspect has been identified and charged, and in another case, the suspect died before being charged. The district attorney’s office declined to prosecute three other cases because of a “valid self-defense claim,” according to Anchorage DA Clint Campion. Six cases involving nine victims remain unsolved, meaning police have not publicly identified a suspect or made an arrest.
Below is a map highlighting the homicide cases investigated by APD in 2016.
KTVA 11′s Eric Ruble and Shannon Riddle contributed to this report.
Correction: An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated that 10 cases remained unsolved. This has been corrected.
