Alaska News

Investigation continues into theft of Native art from Bethel health building

BETHEL – The thief or thieves who stole Alaska Native art and artifacts on display in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. administrative building may have been homeless, perhaps trying to escape the cold, the organization's security director said Friday.

That's just one theory being examined, said Corbin Ford, YKHC director of safety and security. Grass baskets, a miniature loon mask and carved ivory pieces were among the items stolen from cases in the administration building across the highway from the regional hospital, and the theft could have occurred as long as two weeks ago, Ford said.

His security team is looking into every nook and cranny of the building for evidence that anyone had been sleeping or huddled up inside. Homeless people have been spotted in the building, Ford said.

Police tested some of the remaining items for fingerprints. But those that were especially porous or fragile couldn't be checked because the chemicals could damage them, Ford said.

Bethel police said Friday they don't have any new information to share on the case.

The thefts were discovered Monday afternoon, when a worker noticed that a story knife was missing. Ford then took a look and noticed that his favorite, an intricately carved walrus tusk, was gone as well. He checked with YKHC chief executive Dan Winkelman to make sure the items weren't being shown elsewhere. They weren't.

The hospital inventoried its collection and found that 13 small but valuable pieces were missing, along with an ivory face and fish from a whalebone sculpture.

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Ford said he remembers looking at the tusk two weeks ago. If the theft happened after hours or on the weekend, the main doors were locked but employees with badges could get in through the back door to work or use equipment in the wellness center.

Investigators have checked the employees who entered the building last weekend and found that they were using the wellness center, Ford said.

YKHC just replaced the locks on the exterior door and limited the number of keys. Someone who was coming in after hours had been leaving it unlocked, Ford said. But the card-activated entrance still is available.

Some people have commented on Facebook that the thefts happened because the hospital campus doesn't have security, but that's not true, Ford said.

While the security team had been cut, there are still two full-time guards, one part-time guard, two interpreters who help with security and Ford himself. There used to be nine guards, though, said Ford, who started the security director job in December. He has approval to hire more, he said.

YKHC also is working to modernize its security cameras, he said. They weren't activated at the time of the thefts, he said.

Everyone who works there should keep an eye out, Ford said.

"The security of YK is not the responsibility of a person who is wearing the badge," Ford said. "It is the responsibility of all of us as a family."

Lisa Demer

Lisa Demer was a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Dispatch News. Among her many assignments, she spent three years based in Bethel as the newspaper's western Alaska correspondent. She left the ADN in 2018.

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