It's the middle of December, and I'm standing on the corner of Fireweed and Spinnard Road,

just across the street from one of Alaska's most notorious watering holes.

These days, it's commonly referred to as Coots, but back in the summer of 1995, people still called it Chilkoot Charlie's.

When the bar opened in 1970, it grew quickly, right alongside Alaska's burgeoning oil boom.

And almost overnight, Chilkoot Charlie's became one of Alaska's favorite hangouts.

It's hard to imagine how wild that place must have been in the early years, with all-night live music and out-of-state

oil workers looking to spend their cash almost as fast as they could make it.

Nowadays, Coots is a bit mellower, but it's still an Alaskan bar, which means on any given

night, anything can happen. And this was certainly the case in late June 1995

when Aaron Marie Gilbert arrived,

hoping to shoot a few games of pool

and maybe make some new friends.

Music I'm Oh Oh Yeah And

I'm Whether or not Aaron made any friends that night is up for debate.

But what is certain is that she exchanged phone numbers with a young man.

Just another link in a tangled chain of events

that would lead to her disappearance in Gerdwood one week later

I'm going to go ahead It's been 23 years since a young woman vanished while on a trip to Gurdwood.

You know, she was such a strong person. I'm sure she fought like crazy, and it really caught her off guard, whoever did this to her.

If someone wants to disappear, they can do it.

If someone wants to make someone disappear, they can do it.

The main thing that made it stand out is she was with a man who seemed to not match up with her.

...