Riba DeWilde, a 51-year-old Alaska Native artist from Tok, Alaska, was found dead in her remote home on November 26, 2016. She was known for intricate work in bone, fur, and other Interior materials, and remembered by family and community for a subsistence life of hunting, fishing, sewing, and teaching others. Her obituary recalled a childhood and early adulthood along the Koyukon River, raising six children and building a two-story cabin in Eagle.

Alaska State Troopers responded that Saturday morning after a call from her youngest child, 21-year-old Eli Simpson, who reported his mother dead inside the residence. Investigators found DeWilde covered with a blanket and determined she had been shot four times at point-blank range with a Winchester rifle. Simpson told troopers he had endured years of abuse and said he shot in self-defense, then covered her after determining she was dead. He was arrested at the scene and arraigned on first- and second-degree murder charges on November 27, 2016.

Community memorials marked the date and her role as a mother and artist. Does anyone who knew Riba or her family have further information about the circumstances surrounding that November day?