ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Anchorage police have identified the person found dead outdoors Monday in the 3500 block of Lois Drive as 19-year-old Kelly Hunt.

According to APD, Hunt arrived in Anchorage on Jan. 6 and was staying at a home in the 3200 block of Oregon Drive. Police said she left that residence on the morning of Jan. 7. She was reported missing to the Anchorage Police Department on Jan. 11, and detectives were assigned to investigate the case.

Police said next-of-kin notification has been completed.

The body was discovered at about 8:56 a.m. on April 20, when officers responded to a report of a deceased person outside on Lois Drive. The death remains under investigation, and no arrests have been made.

Authorities said the State Medical Examiner will determine Hunt’s cause of death.

“We acknowledge the loss for family members and for the community,” APD Chief Sean Case said in a statement. “This case remains under investigation, and therefore, we are limited in what information we can share. We ask for understanding and patience from the community as detectives continue to conduct this investigation with urgency and accuracy.”

Hunt’s family also released a statement thanking the community members who helped search for her after she was reported missing.

“The family would like to express our deepest thanks and gratitude to everyone who has taken part in the search efforts for our sister Kelly. Your time, dedication, and compassion mean more than words can describe. From the volunteers who did ground searches to those sharing information, and offering support, each of you has made a difference. In moments like these, it is your kindness and sense of community that shows strength and hope is out there. Thank you for standing with us, for not giving up, and for showing such care and love during this difficult time.”

This is a developing story.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

The Arizona Cardinals took Miami quarterback Carson Beck with the first pick of the third round in the 2026 NFL Draft (No. 65 overall).

The pick was instantly met with criticism from NFL writers and analysts, who questioned Arizona taking the quarterback that early, and with other, bigger holes to fill on the roster.

Some of the writers and analysts really did not like the pick, criticizing Beck’s arm strength and potential future as a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Check out the early reaction to Arizona’s pick of Carson Beck in the 2026 NFL Draft on Friday, April 24, 2026.

What do you think of the selection?

More: Arizona Cardinals NFL draft grades for Carson Beck 3rd-round pick

More: Cardinals take stunning swing on QB in 3rd round. What’s the grade?

Carson Beck draft pick by Arizona Cardinals questioned on social media:

Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today. Sign up for azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don’t miss a thing.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A former Colorado funeral home owner who helped her ex-husband hide nearly 200 decomposing bodies was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday in a case that forced the state to clamp down on an industry plagued by repeated scandal and notoriously lax oversight.

Subscribe to read this story ad-free

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

Advertisement

Carie Hallford faced between 25 and 35 years in prison under a plea agreement. Some family members of those whose bodies were left to rot had urged Judge Eric Bentley to impose the maximum sentence. But the judge said Carie Hallford made credible claims of being a victim of domestic violence and her ex-husband, Jon Hallford, was the driving force in their relationship.

Bentley added that 30 years was a “staggeringly huge sentence” and appropriate for her crimes.

Jon Hallford was sentenced to 40 years on corpse abuse charges at a February hearing in which he was called a “monster” by relatives of the victims.

Carie Hallford was the public face of Return to Nature, dealing with bereaved customers at the couple’s funeral home in Colorado Springs. Jon Hallford performed much of the physical work, including at a second location south of Colorado Springs in Penrose.

That’s where authorities found bodies piled throughout a bug-infested building after neighbors complained about a foul odor in 2023.

One of those corpses was the mother of Tanya Wilson, who told Bentley on Friday that the family released what they thought were her ashes from a boat in Hawaii. It turned out her body was lying in toxic fluids on the floor of the Hallfords’ makeshift mortuary. Like other Return to Nature customers, the family received fake ashes instead of the cremated remains they were promised.

They had prepared her mother’s body for meeting her Korean ancestors in the afterlife, Wilson said. To preserve her dignity, they brushed her hair, applied her favorite moisturizer and dressed her in special clothes to preserve the dignity she had in life.

“Carie Hallford annihilated that dignity,” Wilson said.

Carie Hallford apologized in court Friday, saying she was raised to know right from wrong but had lost who she once was.

She fought back tears as she said her marriage had been “a convoluted web of lies, deceit and abuse.” She said she was not a monster but deserved punishment.

Discovery of corpses spurred first routine inspections

Prosecutors have alleged that the Hallfords were motivated by greed. They charged more than $1,200 per customer, and authorities said the amount they spent on luxury items would have covered the cremation costs many times over.

The case became the most egregious in a string of allegations involving Colorado funeral homes as details emerged about the their lavish spending and their pattern of defrauding customers.

Colorado had been the only state that did not regulate funeral homes before lawmakers adopted recent changes. The Hallfords’ case prompted laws mandating routine inspections and adopting a funeral director licensing system.

State inspectors acting under the new law last year found 24 decomposing bodies and multiple containers of bones behind a hidden door of a funeral home owned by the Pueblo County coroner and his brother. It was the first inspection of that Pueblo mortuary.

Before the bodies were found at Penrose, a mother and daughter who operated a funeral home in the western Colorado city of Montrose were sentenced to federal prison after being accused of selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes. In 2024, authorities in Denver arrested a financially troubled former funeral home owner who kept a body in a hearse for two years at a house where police also found the cremated remains of at least 30 people.

Carie Hallford was ‘the one who fed the monster’

Carie Hallford asked for leniency in March when she was sentenced in the federal fraud case, saying she was a victim of abuse and manipulation in her marriage.

Her attorney, Michael Stuzynski, said Friday said Carie Hallford initially believed what happened at Return to Nature was entirely her fault. He said she had a “lonely, gray and terrifying existence” and found solace in the interactions she had with the funeral home’s customers.

But Chief Deputy District Attorney Rachael Powell said Jon Hallford couldn’t have carried out the crimes alone. While his actions were gruesome, Powell said, Carie Hallford was the one manipulating clients as she smiled and took their money, knowing she was lying to them.

“She solicited bodies and took the checks. She fed Jon the bodies,” Powell said.

The Associated Press left voicemail and email messages with Jon Hallford’s attorney seeking comment on the abuse allegations.

The Hallfords, who divorced following their arrest, received prison sentences in the related federal fraud case — 18 years for Carie and 20 years for Jon. They have each appealed.

Plea agreements call for the Hallfords’ state prison sentences to be served concurrently with the federal sentences.

Authorities recovered 189 sets of remains from the Penrose building and said another two bodies were improperly buried. Two of the remains have not yet been identified, but officials continue trying, Fremont County coroner Randy Keller said.