Anchorage police say they learned of a severely beaten young man being held against his will in an abandoned downtown house from a typed note slipped under the door at the university police department Monday night.
The 18-year-old remains in critical condition, unconscious but breathing, at an Anchorage hospital, police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro said.
The note left at the University of Alaska Anchorage police department may have saved the young man's life, she said. Police say they hope to gain more information from whoever wrote the unsigned note.
The university police passed the tip on to city police, who found the man in the basement of the abandoned residence in the 800 block of Barrow Street, Castro said. The teenager suffered severe injuries in what police believe was an assault.
"The note writer said they couldn't live with themselves having this kind of information and not saying anything," she said. "We were thankful for getting this note because who knows if he would have died. This was one of our fears, that this could have turned into a homicide case."
The teenager doesn't seem to have been a university student, Castro said. He had an ID card on him but police still must confirm his identity.
The note writer knew of the assault and may have valuable information, she said. Police want to hear from that person, who can remain anonymous.
Detectives are actively working the case, Castro said. It's not clear why the young man was targeted, she said.
Anyone with information can call police at 786-8900 or can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 561-7867, police said.
Copyright 2013 - Anchorage Daily News
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
