Authorities say they believe they have found the remains of a Kenai Peninsula man who was accused of setting a home near Soldotna on fire last year and shooting at its residents, Alaska State Troopers said Monday.
Ronald Dean Beyering, 62, had been facing charges including arson and attempted murder in connection to the October 2022 incident in which authorities accused him of setting fire to a house off Funny River Road and then shooting at the people who lived there. Troopers never found Beyering despite searching the area, though they did locate the vehicle he was believed to be driving, they said in late October.
In an updated online statement Monday, troopers said they were notified over the weekend that a person had found human remains in the Funny River area. When they responded, troopers found partial human remains, along with firearms and “personal effects,” they said.
Troopers said they have “presumably” identified the remains as Beyering, but they are being sent to the State Medical Examiner’s office for positive identification and an autopsy.
According to charging documents filed at the time, Beyering had been on house arrest in a separate criminal case when authorities say he set the house on fire on a Saturday night. A resident of the home described to the Daily News how she ran and hid to escape the gunfire before she and her fiancée were able to get away.