Michele Pecora had been missing for seven months when a dog sniffing an abandoned vehicle on a lot near Nikiski last weekend drew its owner's attention to a cardboard box on the driver's seat.

Brian Stutzke, who lives across the street from the lot, cut the box open and saw what looked like a body. He touched it, realized it was, then called Alaska State Troopers.

Investigators were still processing the scene at Mile 16.5 Kenai Spur Highway on Sunday evening when they got a phone call from a Kenai man, Franklin Bessette.

"I am Frank Bessette and I'm the one that killed Michele," he told investigators, according to an affidavit filed in court by trooper Toma Caldarea.

Bessette had broken her neck, stuffed her in the green cardboard TV box, sealed it and put it on the driver's seat of a black hatchback with broken windows on a lot near Coyote Lane, according to the court documents.

That all happened around Oct. 12, the day Pecora went missing.

Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said Pecora, 20, left her home in Soldotna that day without identification, money or extra clothing.

A missing persons bulletin was issued on Nov. 20, saying Pecora may have caught a ride to Anchorage. But troopers say Pecora was long dead by then.

The 52-year-old Bessette, who has been charged with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence, told troopers he was house-sitting a home in Kenai the day Pecora disappeared.

He said Pecora and a friend showed up, and that the three of them drank beer together. It was not clear from the charges how Pecora knew Bessette, and troopers would not say.

Bessette told troopers the friend later left, and at some point, two unknown men picked up Pecora. Bessette, who had been drinking "a large amount of vodka," said he passed out on the couch. But Pecora later returned with two men, he claimed, and was performing oral sex on him when he woke up, according to the charging documents.

He told troopers he tried to push her away and the two men began attacking him.

"Bessette stated as he fought with the two males he twisted Michele out of his way and broke her neck," Caldarea wrote. "Bessette stated he realized that she was dead and did not call for medical help or the police because he was scared."

The men, who apparently also did not call for help, are not identified in the charges. It was not clear if investigators know who they are. Prosecutor Scot Leaders did not return a call seeking clarification Thursday.

According to troopers, Bessette said he put Pecora's body into the box and loaded it in his car, then drove around town for four or five days before hiding the box in the abandoned vehicle where it was found.

Stutzke noticed the box Sunday afternoon because his dog had been sniffing and trying to climb into the vehicle, the documents say.

According to the Department of Corrections, Bessette is being held at Wildwood pretrial facility with bail set at $750,000.

Court records indicate Bessette -- who has two misdemeanor convictions on drug and assault charges -- does not yet have an attorney.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.

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