Alaska News

5 months after Kenai family's disappearance, police and relatives continue search

KENAI -- Every weekend, Dennis Gifford heads out into the boggy forests northeast of Kenai. He trudges through dense black spruce, over tussocks and marshlands, looking for a trace of his niece Rebecca Adams, her two young children, and boyfriend Brandon Jividen, who have been missing for five months.

Last heard from in late May, Adams, 22; daughters Michelle Hundley, 5, and Jaracca Hundley, 3; and Jividen, 37, disappeared without a trace. Left behind were the couple's vehicles and all their belongings. Police reported no signs of foul play or forced entry into the couple's apartment. The family dog disappeared with the family.

"There is no closure," Gifford said. "It's torturous."

Gifford said he finds some solace in the woods.

"You do a lot of praying and begging and then you come home and take a nap. ... I don't know how many times (Adam's mother) said, 'Did you find my babies?' That's motivation. You go back out," Gifford said.

The forest northeast of the missing couple's apartment extends thousands of acres, according to the Kenai Police Department. Jividen was known to hike the area, police say. Some of the forest has been searched thoroughly, and police have conducted numerous overflights of the woods. But much remains unsearched by foot.

"It's overwhelming," Gifford said. Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, he said his family has asked him to slow down on his searches. But he continues on.

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The ground is frozen now, and on Thursday police searched an area of the woods for possible signs of the family. Winter is on the way, and the changing season offers a good time to search, Kenai Police Department Lt. David Ross said. Wind, withering foliage and animals may have exposed new evidence, he said. Frozen ground allows police to search areas that have been difficult to traverse during summer. And once snow falls, searching will become much more challenging, Ross said.

On a recent overflight, police spotted an object in a marshy area, near an island of trees. Five officers went to examine it Thursday afternoon. After walking for about 45 minutes, they found it: a wooden shooting target frozen in the ground. Not connected to the case, police determined. They continued on, deeper into the woods, looking for other clues. A few hours later, they returned with no new developments. The department is still examining a piece of outerwear found last week, Ross said.

As police look for new leads, relatives say they struggle every day to continue on. At Gifford's Kenai home, surrounded by siblings Kim Gifford and Jeanine Adams, the missing woman's mother, the family said the disappearance has consumed their lives.

"You just want to crawl in a hole and say forget it, I'm done," Kim Gifford said. She said she racks her brain thinking of possible answers, looking for "anything you can grab at. But everything you start to grab at just disintegrates."

Rebecca Adams' mother, Jeanine Adams, said she is faring somewhat better than she did in those first months.

"When it first happened I'd just stand in the shower and just scream and then cry," Adams said. "I think I cried so much I don't know if I could cry anymore."

Diagnosed with cancer, she said she has found the strength to continue chemotherapy, which she had almost given up on.

The family called Rebecca Adams loving, quick-witted, caring and devoted to her children. Adams and Jividen were happy, the family said. "It just doesn't make sense," Dennis Gifford said.

When Adams and Jividen disappeared, the couple's families "became one," Gifford said. "Our families are in this together."

Reached by phone in West Virginia, Jividen's sister, Brandie Jividen James, agreed. She said the only positive take on the disappearance is the kinship she feels with the family, in particular with Rebecca Adams' sister, Lanell.

"One thing that Lanell and I share is that we only have one sibling. We don't have anyone else," James said. "I care for her deeply because of all this."

Both families praised the work of the Kenai Police Department, FBI and volunteer searchers, whom Dennis Gifford called "unsung heroes." Both families said their communities have offered them tremendous support during the last five months. And both credit their faith with giving them strength to face each day.

"I just want them to come home, either way, so we can have some closure," Kim Gifford said.

Police said they have no more searches planned at this time, but that could change if new leads develop.

Laurel Andrews

Laurel Andrews was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Dispatch. She left the ADN in October 2018.

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