Body found in Switzer Creek freezer identified as man with health issues missing for many years

Ross Pasquan shared mobile home with wife who died a year ago; JPD investigating ‘possibility that the death was concealed for financial gain or other motives’

A property at Switzer Village Mobile Home Park on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, where a man was found in a chest freezer on July 19, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

A man found in a chest freezer at Switzer Village Mobile Home Park earlier this month, whose identity was confirmed by police Wednesday, was suffering from addiction and health issues before disappearing many years ago, according to a childhood friend.

Ross Pasquan, who would have been 74 on June 22, was found July 19 in a locked shed behind the trailer where he lived with his wife, Sheryl McDonald-Pasquan, who died of cancer in July of 2025. Another family member reported finding Pasquan while cleaning the residence, according to the Juneau Police Department.

"Juneau Police Department detectives continue to investigate the timeline and circumstances surrounding his death and the possibility that the death was concealed for financial gain or other motives," a press release updated Wednesday by JPD notes.

An obituary for McDonald-Pasquan, which states her husband suffered "significant health challenges" later in life, does not list him among either surviving or deceased relatives.

A set of wooden welcome plaques hanging outside the front door of the mobile home Wednesday morning lists the first names of three family members, including Pasquan and his wife. Exterior lights of the home were on, but nobody answered the door.

"We are in touch with his family, or extended family, and they've been very cooperative with us," JPD Chief Derek Bos said in an interview Wednesday.

Pasquan has been missing for years, but "we actually have a few discrepancies between different people on how long ago they had contact with him," Bos said. He cited a "broad sweeping range of four to 10 years," but the disappearance wasn’t known to police until his death.

"He's never been reported missing by family or friends, either in Juneau or elsewhere," Bos said.

JPD, in its press release, states Pasquan’s body was found by a family member who was "cleaning out the residence following the death of a family member." Bos said the year that passed between the death of Pasquan’s wife and discovery of his body appears to be related to estate issues.

"I would just say there's the probate process and all that had to be completed and gone through before access was necessarily given to the family," he said. "So I think that's kind of why you see that time delay there."

Deputy Police Chief Krag Campbell, in a July 21 interview, said Pasquan had no obvious indications of a knife or bullet wounds, but "at this time it's just too difficult to say" if foul play was involved. He said he is unaware of a similar incident in Juneau during his more than 20 years with JPD.

Mike Notar, in an interview Wednesday, said he and Pasquan "go back before kindergarten," and he hasn’t known his friend’s whereabouts for perhaps a decade or more.

"I loved Ross like a brother," he said. "We had a lot of really fun times together as young kids and that's how I'd like to remember him."

Notar said Pasquan grew up in Juneau, and served in the National Guard before working in construction and then as a cement truck driver. Pasquan, like much of his family, was also an avid fishing enthusiast.

But Notar said Pasquan began suffering from alcohol and other substance abuse later in life, and his older brother Robert Pasquan "was trying to take care of him."

Robert Pasquan died of Lou Gehrig's disease in 2012.

During subsequent years "nobody had any real sightings or knowledge of his (Ross Pasquan's) actual whereabouts," Notar said.

"He was missing for a long time," Notar said. "There were a lot of conversations — ‘Where's Ross?’ ‘Whatever happened to Ross?’ ‘Anybody ever hear about Ross Pasquan?’ And that's about as far as it ever went."

Notar on June 22, 2021, posted a message on his Facebook page wishing "Happy 69th Birthday to my old friend Ross Pasquan, wherever you are!" Several commenters noted Pasquan’s long absence and offered their well wishes.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.