Battle Creek Arrest Links Michigan Man to 1993 Alaska Cold Case After Victim’s Remains Were Found in a Barrel Near Fairbanks
BATTLE CREEK, MI — Michigan State Police say a man was arrested in Battle Creek in connection with a 1993 killing in Alaska, nearly 33 years after the case began. The arrest follows a confession made to Alaska State Troopers earlier this year and the later recovery of human remains in the Fairbanks area. Investigators say the victim, Patrick Orville Dearth, was reported missing in November 1993. The case remained unsolved for decades before new information led troopers to a suspect and a body recovery this spring.
How The Case Resurfaced
According to state police, the investigation changed in January 2026 when Christopher Popps, 54, contacted Alaska State Troopers and said he had killed someone in Fairbanks in November 1993. That admission gave investigators a new lead in a case that had long gone cold. Troopers later waited until winter conditions eased before going to the location Popps described. In May, they found Dearth’s remains inside a barrel down a steep embankment off the highway, confirming the central details of the cold case.
Arrest In Battle Creek
After the remains were recovered, Alaska investigators identified Popps as the primary suspect and the original tipster. The Alaska State Troopers Cold Case Investigation Unit then contacted Michigan State Police for help with the homicide investigation. Popps was arrested in Battle Creek on Thursday, July 16, 2026, without incident, troopers said. He was first booked into the Calhoun County Jail. As of the latest update, he was being held in the Kalamazoo County Jail while waiting to be extradited to Alaska.
What Investigators Say
Alaska Department of Public Safety spokesperson Austin McDaniel said Popps and Dearth worked together in Alaska. McDaniel said the killing happened after a fight at an auto shop, when Popps allegedly shot Dearth. Officials have not said what led to the break in the case after so many years, beyond Popps’ January call to troopers. The arrest and recovery of the remains gave investigators enough to move the case from a missing-person investigation to a homicide case with an identified suspect.
Next Court Steps
Popps now faces two counts of second-degree murder in Alaska, according to troopers. The case still moves through the extradition process, which will determine when he is returned to Alaska to face those charges. For investigators, the arrest closes one chapter of a decades-old search while leaving the legal process ahead. The discovery of Dearth’s remains and the suspect’s arrest marked the first major developments in the case since the original 1993 disappearance.
