Eli Robert Sharclane Jr.

• Missing Since 09/23/1977
• Missing From Juneau, Alaska
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race Native American
• Age 19 years old
• Height and Weight 5'4 - 5'8, 145 - 165 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A brown coat and brown dress shoes.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Native American male. Black hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Sharclane was last seen in Juneau, Alaska on September 25, 1977. He has never been heard from again. His grandfather filed a missing persons report on November 17, and a grand jury convened to investigate the disappearance on December 8. A suspect, Peter Castillo, was indicted for second-degree murder.

According to the prosecution, shortly after midnight, Sharclane encountered Castillo on the Juneau-Douglas Bridge. The two men got into a fight, and Castillo threw Sharclane off the bridge. It was a 49-foot drop from the railing to the water. It's unclear whether Sharclane could swim, and he had been drinking earlier on the night he went missing.

Castillo later confessed this to the police, but then retracted his confession and tried to have it removed from evidence, arguing it was improperly obtained. The jury was allowed to hear Castillo's confession at the trial. No one had witnessed the altercation or saw Sharclane getting thrown over the bridge rail, but a witness did see Sharclane running onto the bridge and heard sobs or moans coming from the bridge around the time of the incident.

Sharclane's body was never found and no one saw him dead, so Castillo was convicted of attempted murder. Sharclane remains classified as a missing person but is presumed dead.