Unalaska Department of Public Safety

There will be no jury selection next week in the criminal trial involving a fatal 2019 Unalaska car crash. It is the fourth time jury selection has been moved, one of many delays in the roughly five-year case.

In this episode of "Island Interviews," Animal Control Officer Sean Peters explains how Animal Control can assist in finding new homes for animals that can no longer be cared for. He also shares an update on loose dog fees.

After another delay in the five-year case, jury selection is back on the calendar for the trial involving a fatal Unalaska car crash.A jury is set to be selected next month in the criminal case against the driver of the vehicle, 23-year-old Dustin Ruckman. Police say Ruckman, a high schooler at the time, said he was thrown from his truck when it plummeted down the Ulakta Head Cliff side of Unalaska’s Mount Ballyhoo on May 9, 2019. Karly McDonald, 16, and Kiara R. Haist, 18, were in the vehicle when it fell nearly 900 feet down the cliff. Both girls were ejected from the car and died in the crash.

At a status hearing Friday, state prosecutor Patrick McKay Jr. with the District Attorney’s Office in Anchorage told the court that the Unalaska Police Department has new information related to the trial of Dustin Ruckman. The trial has been ongoing for five years. The primary investigating officer on the case thought there were missing pages from her report, according to McKay. On top of that, McKay said the police department found a drawer of records, including things like disks, related to the case — most of which is just copies of material they already had. In light of the newly discovered information though, McKay asked the department to send over all of their material for the case. According to Unalaska City Manager Bil Homka, the city recently became aware of the material and is investigating the situation.

The Unalaska Fire Department responded to a house fire in the Unalaska Valley over the weekend. When crews arrived at the Overland Drive home, they encountered a substantial fire on the deck, according to a Monday statement.

A boat captain died on Unalaska’s Bunker Hill trail Wednesday afternoon. Unalaska’s Department of Public Safety received information of a person possibly deceased, and the city’s fire and police departments were dispatched to the popular hiking spot on Amaknak Island around 4 p.m., according to an announcement from the City of Unalaska.

In this episode of “Island Interviews,” Unalaska’s Chief of Police Kim Hankins discusses dog ordinances within city limits and how owners can keep themselves and others safe by following the law.

Dustin Ruckman, 23, will face an Unalaska jury in late August for counts of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and reckless driving.

A new judge overseeing a criminal case involving a fatal 2019 car crash in Unalaska has granted the defense extra time to solidify a new trial date. In a status hearing on Feb. 8, Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews allowed Julia Moudy, the lead counsel for the defense, another month to go through discovery materials, gather experts and find a trial date that will fit her schedule. That comes after several delays and complications in the case – the latest being a change in lead counsel for the defense, which led to the appointment of a new trial judge.

Diana Rentaria has been attending hearings, arraignments and trial calls for nearly five years, in hopes of eventually finding justice in a criminal case involving the death of her 18-year-old daughter Kiara R. Haist and another Unalaska teen. In May 2019, Dustin Ruckman, a high schooler at the time, drove his truck off of Unalaska’s Ulakta Head Cliff. Haist and 16-year-old Karly McDonald were ejected from the vehicle and killed as the pickup descended nearly 1,000 feet down the mountain. From that time on, Rentaria says she has been in limbo, trying to adapt to her new life without the child she used to call “Kiwi.” “You just try to live in the world as that other person you're supposed to be,” Rentaria said. “But at the end of the day, you go home and you wonder, ‘Are you okay? Are you hungry? Are you cold? Can I see you in the moon if I stare at the moon long enough?’” Jan. 17 would have been Haist’s 23rd birthday.