It’s been a year since two roommates were found dead in their apartment on Irwin Street, and Anchorage police are still trying to track down the person, or persons, responsible.
Melvin Kosbruk, 28, and Gary Erwin, 67, were found by their landlord last January after a concerned family member called to check on them.
Anchorage police are still trying to track down anyone who may have been connected to the deaths.
Police say there are currently three unsolved homicides from 2013. No arrests have been made in any of the murders.
On Tuesday the mother of Kosbruk, Annie Wieskamp, said the pain hasn't gone away, even a after a year later. She said she first noticed something was wrong that day when she didn't get her usual morning text from her son.
"It's hard 'cause he was my youngest son," Wieskamp said.
Wieskamp said Kosbruk's roommate and close friend, Gary Erwin, also didn't answer her calls.
"Neither one of them were answering," Wieskamp said. "Gary would answer if Melvin was asleep already … I went and knocked on the door, and I go and knock on the front window of Melvin's bedroom and still nothing."
Detective Monique Doll, who has been working the case since September, said she believed they were close to cracking the case and they do have persons of interest.
"We're not going to release details about what we think they know, but we are looking for information that corroborates with the physical evidence at the scene," Doll said.
Police haven't released information pertaining to the cause of death for Kosbruk and Erwin, but Doll said detectives don't believe the crime was random.
"The two victims in this particular crime, it was a very brutal double homicide and because it's an act of ongoing investigation, we don't want to release any items that would allow people to build a defense, build an alibi, or to destroy evidence," Doll said.
There are challenges, Doll said, in trying to solve a case that happened more than one year ago.
"As cases get colder, certainly they're more difficult to solve because witnesses move or witnesses forget certain aspects," Doll said.
Police say they are hopeful someone will be brought to justice soon, and a mother will finally have some answers.
"You think it would get easier as time goes by, but it doesn't," Wieskamp said. "Not when you were really close."
APD is asking members of the public with information regarding the case, or information about possible motive, to call Crime Stoppers at 561-STOP.
A $1,000 reward is also available for the person who provides information leading to an arrest for any felony crimes.