SHE SAID HER HUSBAND HAD MOVED TO A CARE HOME — THEN HIS BODY WAS FOUND IN A FREEZER

Ross Pasquan had seemingly disappeared from his Juneau home. Years later, after his wife died, relatives cleaning out the property made a horrifying discovery inside a locked shed.

For years, people who knew Ross Pasquan believed they had an explanation for his disappearance.

They were told he had been moved to a care facility outside Juneau.

There was no reason, they thought, to question the story.

But in July 2026, that explanation collapsed.

While cleaning out a property in Juneau, Alaska, a family member opened a locked storage shed and discovered what appeared to be human remains inside a chest freezer.

The remains belonged to Ross.

He had not been living in a care home.

His body had apparently been concealed for years.

And investigators now believe his wife, Sheryl Ann McDonald-Pasquan, continued receiving benefits in his name long after his death.

THE DISCOVERY THAT SHOCKED THE FAMILY

The discovery was made on July 19, 2026, at a property in the 6500 block of Glacier Highway in Juneau.

According to the Juneau Police Department, officers were called at approximately 7:59 p.m. after a person cleaning out the residence reported possible human remains.

The remains were inside a chest freezer located in a locked outbuilding.

Police said Ross Pasquan was wrapped in a tarp.

The freezer itself became one of the most important clues in the investigation.

Ross would have been 74 years old when his remains were discovered.

But investigators immediately faced a difficult question:

How long had he been there?

THE TIMELINE COULD STRETCH BACK YEARS

Police were unable to establish an exact date of Ross’s death.

According to investigators, his remains may have been placed in the freezer sometime between 2018 and July 2025.

The freezer was manufactured in 2018, providing investigators with the earliest possible point at which the remains could have been stored there.

But police stressed that they could not determine exactly when Ross died or precisely when his body was placed inside the freezer.

That means the widely reported possibility of seven years is an estimate based on the available timeline — not a confirmed duration.

THE MEDICAL EXAMINER FOUND NO MYSTERIOUS CAUSE

Despite the disturbing circumstances surrounding the discovery, investigators found no evidence that Ross had been killed.

The Alaska State Medical Examiner’s Office determined that he died from natural causes associated with severe cardiovascular disease.

Police also said there were no indications of third-party involvement.

That finding changed the nature of the case.

The mystery was no longer primarily about who caused Ross’s death.

Instead, investigators were trying to understand what happened after he died — and why his death was allegedly concealed.

HIS WIFE HAD DIED THE YEAR BEFORE

The investigation became possible only after Sheryl Ann McDonald-Pasquan herself had died.

She died of natural causes on July 14, 2025, according to police.

More than a year later, relatives were clearing out the property when they made the discovery.

By then, Sheryl could no longer be questioned about what had happened.

And that left investigators piecing together the story through financial records, witness interviews and the evidence found at the property.

SHE HAD TOLD PEOPLE HE WAS IN A CARE FACILITY

Witnesses told police that Sheryl had been Ross’s primary caregiver because he had a history of significant health problems.

After Ross disappeared, she reportedly gave people an explanation for his absence.

She said he had been moved to a care facility outside Juneau.

That story appears to have allowed the situation to remain hidden from relatives and acquaintances for years.

Meanwhile, according to investigators, financial activity connected to Ross continued.

BENEFITS CONTINUED TO FLOW

Police said Sheryl continued applying for and receiving benefits in Ross’s name after his death.

Those included:

• Social Security benefits
• Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend payments
• Retirement benefits

Investigators also discovered that one retirement-benefit provider had not been informed of Ross’s death and continued depositing monthly payments into his account as late as July 2026.

The case therefore became not only a disturbing discovery of concealed remains, but also an investigation into years of alleged financial deception.

POLICE BELIEVE SHE ACTED ALONE

One of the most significant findings from the investigation is that authorities found no evidence another person was involved.

Investigators concluded that Sheryl had acted alone in concealing her husband’s death.

Because she had already died, however, the investigation could not lead to criminal charges against her.

Juneau police ultimately closed the investigation following her death.

WHO WAS ROSS PASQUAN?

Friends remembered Ross as a longtime Juneau resident.

According to the Juneau Independent, he had served in the National Guard before working in construction and later as a cement truck driver.

Those who knew him described a man whose life had been deeply connected to the Alaska community.

His final years, however, were marked by serious health problems, with Sheryl serving as his primary caregiver.

What happened after his death remained hidden from those around them.

A DISTURBING DISCOVERY — BUT NOT A MURDER

The circumstances naturally raised questions about whether Ross had been killed.

But investigators say the evidence does not support that conclusion.

The medical examiner found that his death resulted from natural causes connected to severe cardiovascular disease.

There was also no evidence that another person was responsible for his death.

The alleged wrongdoing investigators uncovered instead involved what happened afterward: the concealment of his remains and the continued collection of benefits in his name.

THE CASE ENDS WITHOUT A DAY IN COURT

There will be no criminal trial over Ross’s death.

The person investigators believe concealed his death — his wife — died more than a year before his remains were discovered.

That leaves a case filled with unanswered questions about what motivated her actions and exactly how long Ross remained hidden.

Police were able to establish some pieces of the timeline.

But they could not determine the precise date Ross died or exactly when his remains were placed inside the freezer.

What they did establish was enough to reveal a disturbing secret that had remained hidden inside a locked shed for years.

A husband who had supposedly been moved away was still on the property.

His benefits continued to be collected.

And the truth was discovered only after the woman who knew what had happened was no longer alive to explain it.

For Ross’s family, the discovery finally answered one question that had lingered for years:

He had never simply disappeared.