The Disappearance of Anesha Murnane

Anesha Murnane vanished under suspicious circumstances on October 17th, 2019. The 38-year-old woman lived at MainTree Apartments in Homer, Alaska at the time of her disappearance. MainTree is a supported living facility that provides housing to individuals with disabilities and beneficiaries of the Alaska Mental Health Trust. Anesha was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was considered a dependent adult, but according to her family members, she was stabilized and doing well at the time she vanished.

Anesha was last seen leaving the MainTree apartments shortly after noon on October 17th. Surveillance cameras captured her leaving the building at 12:13 PM. Anesha had a scheduled 1:00 PM appointment at the SVT Health & Wellness clinic on east End Road, and it is presumed that she was walking to that appointment when she left her apartment. Unfortunately, Anesha never made it to her appointment and has never been seen or heard from again.

After Anesha was reported missing, police sent search dogs along the route she would have taken to her appointment. Anesha's scent was tracked throughout the route as expected, but the scent trail ended in front of Pioneer Avenue area near Thai Cosmic Kitchen. Due to this, investigators believe that Anesha was picked up in a car at this location.

Anesha's parents believed that their daughter was abducted since the beginning of the investigation. She has not accessed her cell phone or bank accounts since her disappearance. Anesha also had applied for several jobs before she vanished, and she also had planned trips to Oregon and Mexico. Her plane tickets for both trips were never used.

In June 2021, nearly two years after Anesha vanished, a certificate of presumed death was issued. Under Alaskan law, a person missing for over five years is considered presumed deceased--but families can file a petition for the presumed death certificate before that under certain circumstances. A jury of six people in Homer listened to testimony from detectives, social workers, and from Anesha's parents. Afterwards, the jury ruled that Anesha is presumed deceased--and that she was likely killed by homicide.

Although the ruling was bittersweet, Anesha's mother also stated that the ruling validated her belief that Anesha was abducted by someone she knew and then killed. Despite this belief, detectives maintained that they still did not have any suspects in the case. 

If you have any information that could help the investigation, please contact the Homer Police Department at 907-235-3150 or the Alaska State Troopers at 907-269-5511.

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UPDATE (May 2022):

An arrest has been made in Anesha’s case.

Kirby Calderwood (32) has been arrested and charged with first degree murder, second degree murder, kidnapping, and tampering with physical evidence. Calderwood reportedly knew Anesha because he briefly worked at the Main Tree Apartments, where Anesha lived, back in 2018. Calderwood has a history of violent behavior. He has been accused of sexual assault by women he previously dated, and he also reportedly has a history of harming animals ever since he was a child.

Investigators closed in on Calderwood as their prime suspect after a tipster reported that Calderwood admitted to being responsible for Anesha’s disappearance. The tipster told authorities that on the day of Anesha’s disappearance, Calderwood said he prepped the crawlspace at an empty home before leaving in his car to search for a victim. At some point, he spotted Anesha and offered her a ride. She accepted, and Calderwood ended up bringing her to the empty home. Once there, Calderwood reportedly tortured Anesha before killing her and then disposing of her body in a dumpster.

The tipster also told police that Calderwood kept Anesha’s Timex brand watch. When authorities went to Calderwood’s home in Odgen, Utah, they found the watch in question. Calderwood was taken into custody in Utah but will face charges in Alaska.

Although Anesha has already been declared deceased, her body has still not been found.