On July 3, 2015, 42-year-old Lynn M. Butler was camping near mile 79 of the Denali Highway with 61-year-old Richard A. Casler; both were reported missing after they failed to return. Troopers found spent evidence and damage suggesting gunfire at the campsite, the victims’ vehicle, and a nearby camper, and a ground-and-air search was launched along the remote corridor between Paxson and Cantwell.

On July 5, troopers investigating unexplained noises at a dilapidated trailer established a perimeter and, after repeated attempts to make contact, entry by Special Emergency Reaction Teams located Lynn Butler and Richard Casler dead. Troopers said both had been killed by gunshot wounds; autopsy findings later recorded that Butler died of gunshot wounds while Casler had been shot and beaten. The Alaska Bureau of Investigation opened a double-homicide inquiry.

Court filings later tied scene evidence, cell-phone data, witness statements, and communications to a suspect, and investigators said the victims’ bodies had been concealed near mile 79. In June 2017 Troopers arrested 42-year-old Bruce Floyd Dowd Butler, identified as Lynn Butler’s estranged husband, and charged him with two counts of first-degree murder; the complaint referenced prior domestic-violence incidents and alleged admissions. Does anyone who was in the Denali Highway area that Fourth of July weekend have information that could help clarify what happened?