Investigators Solve Cold Case of Alaska Teen Who Was "R" and Murdered in 1996
In 1996, the small community of Sitka, Alaska, was devastated by the abduction and murder of 17-year-old Jessica Baggen as she walked home from her birthday celebration. The initial investigation was marred by a wrongful accusation and a coerced confession from a local man who was eventually acquitted due to a lack of physical evidence. Despite the case remaining cold for over two decades, modern genetic genealogy eventually linked the crime to Steve Branch, a former resident who had been charged with a separate sexual assault around the same time. When authorities confronted him in 2020…
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