Janet Lane Long hoisted a large framed photograph of her smiling granddaughter over her head Monday evening at a busy Tudor Road intersection in Anchorage. She said she wants answers.
At 4:45 a.m. on Sept. 2, a 911 caller reported a suicide at a home in the 7000 block of Huntsmen Circle in South Anchorage. Police responded and found the body of Long's granddaughter, 21-year-old Michelle Lane, said Jennifer Castro, APD spokeswoman.
Castro said an initial investigation ruled the death a suicide. She added, however, that responding officers "wanted to have some circumstances reviewed further." The department's crime scene team was called to investigate and the case was assigned to three homicide detectives.
"It's still an open and ongoing investigation," she said.
But Long and the more than 50 others who crowded outside the Anchorage Police Department on Monday argued Lane couldn't have taken her own life. Long said Lane loved her 1-year-old daughter, Madalynn, too much. She was just about to move back to Point Hope, her hometown.
"She was a loving person," Long said. "She loved her mother. She loved her siblings. She loved her parents. She loved her daughter. She loved everyone."
On the police department steps, the group demanded truth in a rally fueled by social media. On pieces of paper and cardboard, many displayed the hashtags #KTUU, #ADN, #APD and #Justice4Michelle. By late Monday, more than 3,400 people had joined the Facebook page "Justice for Michelle Lane," where Monday's meeting spot had been announced.
People cried, hugged and chanted "justice for Michelle" while walking away from the police department and up Elmore Road.
"You've got to do the right thing," one person yelled.
"Her daughter deserves to know the truth," called another.
Lane worked in the accounting department at ASRC Energy Services in Anchorage. She had taken the fall semester off from classes at the University of Alaska Anchorage to work more and save money for her daughter, said co-worker Selma Khan.
Lane graduated from Tikigaq School in Point Hope, where she was a well-known basketball player, before moving to Anchorage, said Martha Frankson, a family member.
"We hope that the truth comes out," she said. "We know in our hearts that she didn't do it."
Castro said Monday that police had scheduled a meeting with Lane's family for Tuesday afternoon to discuss the case.