A Juneau man whose remains were discovered inside a chest freezer in July died of natural causes, according to a Juneau Police Department release. Juneau police previously identified the person as Ross Pasquan. He would’ve been 74 at the time his remains were found.
Following a monthslong investigation, investigators found that Pasquan’s wife hid his death and continued applying for and receiving benefits in his name, according to Juneau Police.
“Those primary benefits such as PFD, Social Security, retirement – those things continue to be applied for, and so what it ultimately looks like is that she most likely applied for those things. She received the benefit of those financial gains from that,” Deputy Chief Krag Campbell said.
Pasquan was married to Sheryl McDonald-Pasquan, who died from cancer in July 2025, about a year prior to the remains being found. The pair lived together in a home at the Switzer Village Mobile Home Park in Lemon Creek.
Campbell said police don’t know how McDonald-Pasquan put her husband’s body into the chest freezer. His remains were originally found there in a shed on July 19. Police received a report from a person cleaning out the home following McDonald-Pasquan’s death. The person reported seeing an object wrapped in tarp that appeared to contain human remains.
It’s unclear how much money McDonald-Pasquan collected, because police did not establish when Pasquan died or how long his remains were inside the freezer. Campbell said Pasquan continued to receive monthly retirement payments until the month his body was found.
Pasquan’s death was never reported. No one reported him missing either, according to the release. It’s unclear when Pasquan was last seen alive, Campbell said.
“We really don’t know. You have a variety of witnesses giving a variety of different dates. Some can’t be corroborated, so then they’re just best guesses. Maybe somebody saw him, but we’re looking for corroboration so we can give more definitive dates. But we’re unable to determine that,” he said.
Campbell said the police estimate Pasquan’s remains were put inside the freezer between 2018 and 2025. That’s based on the freezer being manufactured in 2018 and McDonald-Pasquan’s death in July 2025.
Police found no evidence that another person caused Pasquan’s death or assisted McDonald-Pasquan in concealing his remains or collecting his benefits. The State Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Pasquan’s death was related to severe cardiovascular disease.
According to McDonald-Pasquan’s obituary, Ross Pasquan faced significant health challenges and his wife cared for him. Witnesses said she explained his absence by telling them he had been moved to a care facility outside Juneau, the police release states.
The state medical examiner filed a petition for an unclaimed body for Pasquan in late August. Under state law, the Alaska Department of Health must make a request to the court to bury or cremate remains of dead bodies that don’t appear to be claimed. Juneau District Court Judge Peggy McCoy authorized the request in early September, according to court records.
Campbell said Juneau police closed the investigation, but the department can reopen any case if people come forward with relevant, new information.
