Anchorage Daily News

Anchorage police want to talk to a man caught on an ATM camera early Sunday morning on the weekend Mindy Schloss vanished.

Police released a photo of the man Monday. They were careful not to call him a suspect and asked the public to help identify him.

Police spokesman Paul Honeman also said investigators plan to widen the search for Schloss to the Seward Highway south of Anchorage near Mile 113, where the body of a 37-year-old man was found alongside the road early on Aug. 14. Police have so far refused to say how the man, Nickline Percy Noatak, died, only that his death is "suspicious."

The ATM photo, which shows only the bottom half of the man's face, a bandanna and puffy jacket, was taken at a cash machine in the Sand Lake area at 5 a.m. the day Schloss missed a flight to Fairbanks, police said. The bandanna appears to be black and the jacket is a dark color, Honeman said. The man may be wearing a backpack.

Police came up with the image when they canvassed stores in the Sand Lake and Jewel Lake neighborhoods near Schloss' home, looking for photographs or video taken by security cameras. Detectives singled out this man as a "person of interest" in part because he was using a card not his own, police said.

The transaction time shown on the photo is 5:01 a.m. Aug. 5.

"This picture here doesn't have a name because they don't know the name," said Honeman. "Maybe there are people out there who will say when they see this, 'I know that guy.' "

Honeman stressed that the man in the photo is not a suspect but may be connected in some way to the case. He said detectives indicated the man was not using Schloss' ATM card and refused to release the exact location of the ATM.

Investigators are fairly certain Schloss has come to a bad end. They are withholding details of the case because they don't want to jeopardize their investigation, they've said.

Schloss, a 52-year-old psychiatric nurse with a reputation for being highly reliable, was last seen at her house off Raspberry Road near the airport on the evening of Friday, Aug. 3. Her red 2000 Acura Integra hatchback was found four days later unoccupied, parked inconspicuously on a frontage road near the airport in an area she was not known to visit.

SCHLOSS' 'SIGNIFICANT OTHER'

Schloss has a "significant other" who lives in Anchorage but no family in Alaska, said her close friend Gerri Yett.

Since April 2006, Schloss has worked under contract for the Tanana Chiefs Conference in Fairbanks, said Victor Joseph, the conference's health director.

Schloss makes the flight to Fairbanks every other week, Joseph said.

Police have interviewed neighbors, friends and co-workers of Schloss and continue to do so, according to Honeman. They want to talk to anybody she's been associated with and to search any place she's been known to go to, he said.

Investigators with dogs have been combing wooded areas around the airport, including parts of Kincaid Park. Divers went into the waters of DeLong Lake on Sunday.

Police are not saying what connection they might suspect between Schloss' disappearance and the death of Noatak, whose last known address was the Brother Francis Shelter. She has no known link to him, Honeman said, but police are looking at everything.

The FBI is helping with the search, including consulting with their behavioral science experts in the Lower 48 to flesh out psychological profiles of possible suspects.

Honeman asked that anyone with information about anything having to do with the case to call police at 786-8900. Those who want to remain anonymous can call Anchorage Crime Stoppers at 561-7867, or submit their tip online at www.anchoragecrimestoppers.com.

Anyone who gives police information that leads to a felony conviction can earn up to $1,000.

Find Peter Porco online at adn.com/contact/pporco or call 257-4582.