Alaska State Troopers have arrested a Michigan man, Christopher Popps, 54, in connection with the 1993 murder of his former co-worker, Patrick Orville Dearth. The break in the decades-old cold case came after Popps allegedly made multiple anonymous tips to law enforcement agencies confessing to the killing.
Dearth, 34, was reported missing in November 1993 in Fairbanks, Alaska. For over 30 years, investigators had few leads. The breakthrough occurred on January 22, 2025, when an anonymous tipster claimed responsibility for a 1993 murder in the Fairbanks area. The Alaska Bureau of Investigation's Cold Case Unit took over the investigation.
Due to snow cover and limited daylight, investigators were unable to search the area immediately. In May 2025, searchers located human remains inside a barrel along a steep embankment near Mile 47 of the Steese Highway. The remains were later identified by the Alaska State Medical Examiner's Office as Patrick Dearth, with the cause of death ruled a homicide.
Investigators identified Popps as the anonymous tipster. According to Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel, Popps had contacted various Alaska law enforcement agencies with confessions. The motive behind Popps' alleged confession more than three decades after the crime has not been disclosed.
Authorities stated that Popps and Dearth worked together in Fairbanks, and the killing reportedly stemmed from an altercation at an auto shop. "Based on our investigation, we determined there was an altercation at an auto shop, which led Popps to shoot Dearth," McDaniel told Alaska Public Media.
On June 25, 2026, a Fairbanks grand jury indicted Popps on two counts of second-degree murder, and an arrest warrant was issued. He was arrested by Michigan State Police near Kalamazoo on July 16 and is currently held in Kalamazoo County jail pending extradition to Alaska. As of Friday, Popps' attorney information was not available in Alaska court records, and no future hearings had been scheduled.