David Anthony Simmons was 30 and serving as interim executive director of the Haines Economic Development Corp. when a massive landslide struck his Beach Road neighborhood in Haines, Alaska, on December 2, 2020. Heavy rainfall triggered an estimated 600-foot-wide slide that carried mud, trees, and parts of four homes down to the waterline. Simmons and his tenant, 23-year-old Jenae Larson, were inside the home when the slide wiped the structure from its foundation.

Search-and-rescue teams, including the Alaska State Troopers and the Coast Guard, conducted aerial searches and scoured the beaches, but the debris field was too dangerous to enter on foot because the ground remained unstable and saturated. After days with no new evidence and ongoing risk of further slides, authorities suspended the active search; local leaders said it was sadly likely they had not survived. The community later erected memorials, including benches, to honor Simmons and Larson.

If anyone in Haines or the surrounding area has information about that night or remembers details that could help families, please come forward.