Police, family search for missing Fairbanks man who police say is a person of interest in sexual assault investigation

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU) - Officially, the last time 21-year-old Fairbanks resident Devin Standifer was seen was on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 7.

Standifer was leaving his aunt Jamie John’s residence in the 21st Avenue neighborhood of Fairbanks.

His grandmother Sandy Koyukuk said he was intoxicated at the time.

“A lot of people don’t want me to say that he’s intoxicated, but I believe it’s important because when my grandson is intoxicated, he could barely move,” she added.

For the past five days, Standifer’s family, friends, and the Fairbanks Police Department have been looking for him.

The search turned up Standifer’s cell phone, a pair of shoes his family says belong to him, and an earbud in the area where he was last seen.

“We’re working with those leads right now to attempt to identify any location that he possibly is at,” Fairbanks Police Chief Ron Dupee said.

Koyukuk said a couple of reports have been received from people who say they’ve seen Standifer. His grandmother expressed doubt about the accuracy of those claims.

Fairbanks Police say they have no credible sighting reports to date, nor do police have an accurate description of what clothing he might be wearing.

Dupee said on the morning of Dec. 7, police received a report of a sexual assault at the residence where Standifer was last seen, and he was identified as a person of interest.

“He left the residence around 6:45 in the morning,” Dupee said.

The night after he left his aunt’s residence, a report was filed with the Fairbanks Police listing him as missing.

Since then, police have attempted to find Standifer.

“Our policy is that missing persons are a priority case, regardless of what the circumstances are,” Dupee said.

Reached by phone Friday morning, Koyukuk said she considers any allegations being made against her grandson to be irrelevant at this point in the search for Standifer, saying that their “main focus is finding our grandson, regardless.”

The chief said so far, there is no indication that Standifer has left the Fairbanks area. However, other law enforcement agencies have been notified that he has been reported as missing.

“VPSOs [Village Public Safety Officers] have been working the case. They have been doing some searches over on the south side of Fairbanks in that 20th Avenue area, and we don’t have anything yet,” Dupee said.

Meanwhile, Koyukuk said she hopes Devin will contact his family.

“We love you. If you are hiding, we love you. All we need to hear is your voice,” Koyukuk said.

She said the last week has been devastating.

“You can’t sleep when it’s nighttime. We drive, drive, drive till we’re so exhausted, and then we go to bed. You wake up. For me, I’ve been having like nightmares,” Koyukuk said. “You wake up in the morning sad, looking at, I’d look at my phone, you know, I’ll get up every two hours looking open. He would say ‘Hi, grandma,’ because he contacts me every day and sometimes two times a day telling me ‘I love you.‘”

If you have any information on the case, contact Fairbanks Police Department dispatch at (907) 450-6500.

Editor’s note: This story was updated Friday morning with additional comments from Devin Standifer’s grandmother regarding the police investigation.

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