General 5 — Sunni Bean

TRANSCRIPT:

April 29, 2024. Theresa Issac, on her son, Michael.

If you’re from the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta, you may remember when Michael Isaac, a 20-year-old and a firefighter from the Yukon village of Marshall, went missing while visiting Bethel, Alaska last November. A month-long search ensued, and then Bethel Search and Rescue found Michael. He was submerged beneath the ice thickening on Brown's Slough.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with Theresa Isaac, Michael Isaac’s mom.

She said she’s finally able to find the words to express the time since. This is a trigger warning, It won’t be an easy listen. Her grief is potent.

It was five months ago today when Michael’s body was found. He was buried in December. And there’s been no news since. Right now, the case is still under investigation.

Shortly after Michael was found on November 29th, 2023, his body was sent to the medical examiner's office in Anchorage. On December 7th, Michael’s father Jason Isaac said he was told to expect the autopsy results to take two to six weeks. Since then, more than 20 weeks have passed. The autopsy is still not available to the family.

Michael’s case is under investigation by the Bethel Police Department. So far, it’s been tight-lipped. Over the routine calls I’ve made to Bethel Police about this case over the last half a year; I was usually told basically the same thing. The investigation is ongoing. On Wednesday, April 24th, lead Detective Dylan Floyd said, this is to protect the case and sources.

Floyd: We cannot give information, we can only receive it. And I know that that is extremely frustrating. But it's, it's to, it is specifically to protect their case and any evidence we get.

When I asked about the autopsy, Detective Floyd said,

Floyd: We are not releasing the report until our investigation is concluded.

According to Detective Floyd on April 24th, no arrests had been made.

The family still doesn’t have an explanation for why Michael Isaac went missing that night, or why he was found deceased almost a month later. Theresa Isaac, amongst others, says she believes Michael was murdered. She saw his body. She’s thought deeply about the circumstances. She can’t see any other way this could have happened.

At the end of this piece, I’ll share some more of the circumstances surrounding Michael’s death.

For now, I want to make sure you stay tuned to hear what Theresa has to say. Here’s an unedited portion of our conversation. You might want to sit down for this.

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Sunni Bean: What do you think having justice for Michael would change? I guess.

Theresa Issac: It’ll bring closure to us. Somebody out there that hurt my kid wouldn't hurt another family, you know? And that's how come I don't understand why. Why, nobody, even if people know about Michael, even if they have evidence or video, or you know talking amongst each other. Why they wouldn't report them to the police? Why would anybody want to protect another human being that murdered somebody?

Cause Michael did got murdered. My kid was almost six foot. And what we were told was, he was found in four foot of water. Four foot of water! Right there in that slough! My kid wouldn't jump off over the rail and commit suicide in that-– that was one of the things that we were asked, ‘you think he committed suicide?’ In four foot of water? My kid was almost 6 foot he wouldn't commit suicide in four foot of water. He wouldn't voluntarily jumped in the water. He was supposed to come home that next day, you know. He had a three year old, he had. He left behind his three year old baby, that he talked to multiple times a day. From the time he wakes up in the morning till he go to bed at night, all day sometimes, he was on the phone with his baby.

So Michael was murdered.

And he wouldn’t… You know, somebody knows something. Multiple people know something. That's how come we need justice for Michael. So another Mom and Dad out there, another kid don't need to be parentless. Because if nobody captures these people that did this to my Michael, they're gonna do it again to another family. They're gonna take another son or daughter, a mom or dad, a brother or sister, a grandson, granddaughter. And if they have no remorse? They don't care. They're gonna keep on doing this to other families. And it needs to stop. You know, we need, we need to spread the word more. And I can't, I can't bring back my son. I can't bring him back. But I'm trying to be his voice. We're trying to be his voice.

So you know, whatever news you, you or, public, you know, Facebook, whatever. Spread the word that we need help. We need justice. My son needs justice. We need to put his murderers behind bars. I don't want another family, I don't want another Mom [to] have to bury their son or daughter.

[pause] You know, the tears. You know, when you think you're having a good day, there's a memory. Something just pops up, and you start crying all over again. I didn't think I could cry this much my whole life. You know. I lose my dad going on 18 years, and I thought that was tough. My dad too, he died alcohol related. But- he died of hypothermia. Summertime. in the Muqii house. Going on 18 years now. And I thought that was tough. But having to lose my own son, one of my own kids. This is torture, because it was unexpected, it was sudden, and it was violent.

When Michael came home- and I really wish we took pictures- his body have evidence. His body had evidence of whatever he had to go through. The hurtful thing about this is, what if he called out for me and his dad. We couldn't even protect him. He called out for help, nobody helped. That’s something I try not to think about, because that's too much for me. What if he'd called for support- he called for help- but nobody helped.

Sunni Bean: It’s the furthest thing from your fault. You gave him so much love.

Theresa Isaac: There’s so many things I don’t want to think. It’s one of the things I was finally able to say out loud.

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According to Michael’s uncle, Jack George, that night, Michael and his brother couldn’t find any available hotel rooms to spend the night, so they ended up staying out late. According to information provided at a Bethel Search and rescue meeting on November 4th, meeting, Michael was on Facetime when he met two people, and him and his brother went back to their place on East Avenue. George said he believes Michael got into an argument.

Michael’s glasses, hat, and tribal ID were found at the residence he had been at. According to Theresa, his phone has never been recovered.

During the second week of the search, Bethel Search and Rescue got ahold of a video showing Michael walking away from that residential area around 6AM that morning. Within the next half an hour, according to a Bethel Search and Rescue meeting on November 14th, two people were captured on bikes going the same direction, before the two bikes headed back later. At the time, that was the last sighting of Michael.

Bethel Search and Rescue volunteers used donations to purchase sonar equipment to search under the water. Volunteer Earl Samuelson dedicated time to mastering the equipment. 27 days after he went missing, Samuelson found Michael, submerged under ice in Brown’s Slough, near where the footage last captured him.

That was on November 29th. Today it’s April 26th. At this time, no arrests have been made.

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If you have information about Michael Isaac’s death, please reach out to Bethel Police Department Detective Dylan Floyd at 907-545-0153.

You can also reach out to Michael’s family through his uncle, Jack George, at 907-679-2561.

You can also reach out to Bethel Search and Rescue at 907-543-5078.

You can also reach out to me at 703-909-3849.

Stay well. In Ireland, I’m Sunni Bean.