Before the Anchorage Police Department was called to Beluga Point to assist with a standoff involving 36-year-old Kevin Thibodeau, detectives had already spoken to him earlier that day about another case, according to court documents.
A criminal complaint related to the standoff revealed APD spoke to Thibodeau on Wednesday about allegedly videotaping a naked child. He then texted his wife to say he planned to kill himself at Beluga Point.
Police said a man named Hayden Porter told officers he saw Thibodeau at Beluga Point that night. Porter said when he went to see if he was OK, Thibodeau pointed a gun at him and told Porter to leave. As he did, Thibodeau fired multiple shots. Porter was not injured. When police arrived, they heard gun shots, but could not find Thibodeau.
Authorities shut down the Seward Highway in both directions for 12 hours during their initial investigation of the incident. Law enforcement was unable to find Thibodeau that night, but a trooper dispatch on Monday said a body found at Beluga Point had been tentatively identified as Thibodeau. The State Medical Examiner’s Office will confirm his identity and conduct an autopsy.
His sister, Rachel Garcia, said the standoff was an “unimaginable” situation completely out of character for Thibodeau. She described him as a man devoted to his family.
“If you ever had a bad day, you could call and he always had the right words to say,” Garcia said in a phone call from Texas. “He’s just a very good man.”
Thibodeau first moved to Alaska in 2005. He was in the U.S. Army and met his wife here. He then moved to his home state of Texas before returning to Anchorage last summer, according to Garcia. He has two children.
“He has three loves in his life: the Army, his family and the Green Bay Packers,” Garcia said. “You could always depend on him.”
Garcia said she plans to visit Alaska later this week. She said authorities have not been communicating with her about the case.
“That’s one of the reasons why we’re deciding to go up there, because we need to understand what happened to my brother,” Garcia explained.
She said she simply wants him to return home.
“We want him to be found,” she said. “We don’t know what happened.”
Alaska State Troopers said Monday Thibodeau’s next of kin had been notified of the likelihood of his death. Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact troopers at 907-269-5511.
KTVA 11’s Eric Ruble can be reached via email or on Facebook and Twitter.
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