The following day, the victim was identified as Bonnie Craig. The medical examiner determined she had drowned. But Bonnie had also suffered severe head injuries, possibly resulting from a fall off a cliff. At the time of Bonnie’s death, her mother, Karen Campbell, was on vacation in Florida. She rushed home when she learned the tragic news. When she saw her daughter's body she noticed defensive wounds on her body and knew that, in fact, Bonnie had been murdered. Troubling questions had already begun to surface before Karen Campbell had viewed her daughter’s body. What was Bonnie doing anywhere near McHugh Creek Park on a school day? And since she didn’t drive, how did Bonnie get there? The park was 10 miles from where she was last seen. Even then, authorities were slow to conclude that Bonnie had been murdered and what few leads investigators developed they kept to themselves.

One piece of information, troopers didn’t release were the results of a sexual assault examination, which Karen learned of six months later. When Karen originally asked if Bonnie had been raped she was told no. After fighting to get information she said it was revealed that Bonnie was brutally raped and murdered. Law enforcement maintains that the results of the autopsy showed that there was evidence of sexual activity and they couldn’t confirm whether it was a sexual assault or whether it was consensual sex. Such disputes were typical of Karen Campbell’s relationship with police. Her frustrations with investigators soon motivated her to begin her own search for information about Bonnie’s death.

Before her daughter’s death, Karen worked as a reserve officer with the Anchorage Police Department and performed some undercover work. A few months into her investigation into Bonnie’s death, Karen learned that her undercover work might have jeopardized the lives of those closest to her. She was approached by an acquaintance who claimed to have information about Bonnie’s murder. At his request, Karen promised to protect his identity. According to Karen, the man told her that her family had apparently been targeted on the orders of a local drug lord after a sting she was involved in resulted in the arrest of several members of his organization. He told her that her murder was ordered because it was a message to the Anchorage Police Department to back off. According to Karen, Bonnie was murdered the day after the people that she identified were released from jail. Despite the precautions taken to protect her identity during the busts, it would not have been difficult for the accused to learn who had fingered them.

Almost a full year after Bonnie’s murder, the case took an unexpected turn when Karen was contacted by one of Bonnie’s college instructors. She said the instructor told her that there was a student who may have been involved in the murder. According to Karen, the instructor told her that her suspicions stemmed from reading the student’s class journal and the references he made to the date of Bonnie’s murder -- September 28th. Karen said that certain entries in the journal were incredibly violent and filled with anger. According to Karen, there were also two incidents where the student specifically said that September 28th was going to be a very tough day and that he was going to be put to a test. The instructor told Karen that on the day Bonnie was murdered, the student in question was absent. He was supposed to hand in a paper but he brought it to the teacher later in the afternoon. According to Karen the teacher told her that the student was wet as if he had just gotten out of a shower. She also said it smelled like had he just poured a whole bottle of cologne on himself. Investigators looked in to the student but DNA evidence recovered from Bonnie at the scene didn’t match the DNA evidence collected from the student at the college. Karen did some sleuthing of her own and learned that the student had an assault charge against him and had been bailed out of jail by a young man who had been involved in another murder.

Could someone have been lying in wait for Bonnie Craig? One neighbor reported seeing an unknown car idling in front of Bonnie’s home early that morning. And, an anonymous caller to the police Crime Stopper’s line claimed to have seen Bonnie that morning at the bus stop talking to two men in a vehicle. Karen Campbell intends to do everything she can to keep the investigation alive. A $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Bonnie Craig’s killer.

If you have any information about the death of Bonnie Craig, please contact the Alaska State Police or call the Unsolved Mysteries hotline, 1-800-876-5353.