Michael Allison Beavers was 40 when he left his Chugiak, Alaska, home in late November 1979, saying he was driving to Seattle for business. He never arrived, and his wife reported him missing in January 1980. The initial investigation produced no leads and was closed in 1982; he was later declared legally deceased.

On July 24, 1989, badly decomposed human remains were found on the northwest shore of Fire Island, just west of Anchorage. An autopsy indicated a Caucasian man aged 35 to 50 and concluded the death was a homicide; an anthropologist estimated the body had been exposed on the beach for at least a year. The unidentified man was buried at Anchorage Municipal Cemetery.

In 2021 the Cold Case Investigation Unit reopened the file, used forensic genome sequencing and investigative genealogy, and confirmed through a close relative’s DNA that the Fire Island remains were those of Michael Beavers. As of this identification the homicide investigation remains active; no arrests or publicly named suspects have been announced.

Anyone with information about Michael Beavers disappearance or murder is asked to contact the Alaska Bureau of Investigation’s Cold Case Investigation Unit at (907) 375-7728 or the ABI main line at (907) 269-5611. Would anyone with knowledge of Beavers travel plans or contacts from late 1979 come forward?