Marion Gonangnan

Gonangnan, circa 2003

  • Missing Since 03/30/2003
  • Missing From Fairbanks, Alaska
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race Native American
  • Date of Birth 12/17/1970 (54)
  • Age 32 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'9, 144 pounds
  • Medical Conditions Gonangnan has a history of drug abuse. She may have had an ectopic pregnancy at the time of her 2003 disappearance. An ectopic pregnancy is a life-threatening condition; the fetus cannot be carried to term and surgery is necessary to save the mother's life.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics Native American female. Brown hair, brown eyes. One of Gonangnan's ears is pierced 16 times and the other is pierced 17 times.

Details of Disappearance

Gonangnan's was last seen at 9:00 p.m. on March 30, 2003, when she walked out of her home on 21st Avenue in Fairbanks, Alaska and never returned. She told her teenage daughter she was going to the hospital to get examined for a suspected ectopic pregnancy. She did not want her daughter to accompany her, which is uncharacteristic of Gonangnan's behavior.

At 10:30 p.m., Gonangnan called her daughter to say she was at the hospital. However, hospital telephone records don't show any call placed from there to the family's home that day. She has never been heard from again.

As Gonangnan had a history of dropping out of sight for a few days, her children were initially unconcerned when she did not come home. There were several unconfirmed sightings of her in the neighborhood in the days after her disappearance.

In April, the Office of Children's Services took custody of Gonangnan's children. She was not reported missing until May 7.

Gonangnan has a history of residential instability and of abandoning her family, which includes five children, three of whom were living with her in 2003.

She was involved with drug abuse and prostitution and had a violent relationship with her boyfriend, the father of her youngest child, in 2003. The boyfriend is not considered a suspect in Gonagnan's disappearance, however, as he was in jail the day she vanished.

While investigators initially thought Gonangnan had left of her own accord, they now suspect foul play in her disappearance due to the amount of time that has passed since anyone has heard from her. She has not been arrested since her disappearance, and she has not applied for a dividend from the Alaska Permanent Fund.

One of her associates, Mahogany Davis, was stabbed to death in May 2002. The murder remains unsolved and it is unclear whether it is connected to Gonangnan's disappearance, which is also unsolved.

Investigating Agency

  • Fairbanks Police Department 907-459-6500

Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 25, 2007; details of disappearance updated.