A Wasilla resident was arrested Friday and charged with murder in the death of a man who investigators believe was killed on his own property earlier in the week.
Alaska State Troopers responded to a missing person report in Big Lake on Tuesday, troopers said in an online statement.
They determined in a preliminary investigation that Richard Proveaux, 40, from Wasilla had gone missing under suspicious circumstances, according to troopers.
Investigators with the Alaska Bureau of Investigation’s Major Crimes Unit responded, troopers said. Their investigation found Proveaux appeared to have been killed on his property and that his remains had been hidden nearby, and the bureau identified Wasilla resident James Milton Simpson, 40, as a suspect, according to troopers.
Troopers obtained an arrest warrant for Simpson on Friday, and he was arrested in Big Lake following coordination with the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, troopers said. He was charged with first- and second-degree murder, according to troopers and online court records.
Simpson was taken to the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility in Palmer and was being held on a $100,000 cash bail, troopers said.