Pair killed in CHSR crash battled addictions
By AMANDA BOHMAN, Staff Writer
The man and woman who died after their vehicle went off Chena Hot Springs Road on Friday were traveling at speeds in excess of 90 mph in a stolen 2006 Chrysler Pacifica, according to Alaska State Troopers.
Driver Scott Standefer II and passenger Barbara Katy Chapman--the daughter of reality TV star Duane "Dog" Chapman--are both 23 and of North Pole.
They spent the day at Chena Hot Springs Resort, said Trooper Jeremy Stone. Standefer tried to rent a room using a stolen credit card, Stone said.
The pair were headed toward Fairbanks shortly before 5 p.m. when the Pacifica went off the road at 34.5 Mile, rolled and slammed into some trees, landing upside down. Family members said the two, who were friends, struggled with drug addiction.
"(Barbara) had gotten herself into a terrible mess," Lyssa Chapman said of her daughter, the third of five of her children and the mother of 4-year-old Travis Drake-Lee. "She was trying as hard as she could to put her life back together."
The Pacifica had been reported stolen from a residence at 11 Mile Chena Hot Springs Road on Thursday, Stone said.
It's unclear why the vehicle left the road, which is straight and flat, before the crash. Troopers suspect alcohol and drugs played a role in the accident.
"There is no clue as to why they left the roadway," Stone said. "There are absolutely no skid marks on the road. They just went off the road, hit an embankment and launched."
Paramedics declared the pair dead at the scene, and troopers spent Friday night and much of Saturday trying to identify them because neither carried identification, Stone said. Standefer wore a seat belt, while Chapman was partially ejected from the vehicle. It's unclear to troopers whether she had been buckled in.
Standefer attended North Pole High School, worked odd jobs and was in and out of jail. He had battled drug addiction since age 11, said his grandfather, Gerald Standefer.
"He had the potential to be anything he wanted to be," the elder Standefer said. "The police should have got him and put him in jail and drug rehabilitation."
Gerald Standefer last saw his grandson in October, he said. Standefer's father is a gold miner in the Alaska Range, and his mother lives in Indiana. He is also survived by a younger brother.
"It's just a bad deal when a young man has so much potential, and he throws it all away," Gerald Standefer said.
Standefer was helping Chapman get a job as a night auditor at a local hotel, Lyssa Chapman said.
"I saw her three days ago," Chapman said Saturday. "She was stoked about it. I was kind of thinking maybe this was it. That she would change things in her life."
Chapman, whose father lives in Hawaii, was born in Denver, her mother said. She loved music, the outdoors and animals. Chapman attended school in Anderson after moving to Alaska with her mother in 1996. She dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.
"She was a sweet girl," Lyssa Chapman said. "We were just waiting for her to come to us and say, 'I hit bottom.' We didn't know what else to do."
The accident occurred the day before Duane Chapman--the star of "Dog The Bounty Hunter"--was to wed his longtime sidekick, Beth Smith. The Saturday wedding in Hawaii went forward as planned after the family consulted with a preacher and agreed to celebrate Barbara Chapman's life at the ceremony, according to Michael Feeney, senior vice president of A&E television network.
Barbara Chapman had not been expected to attend the wedding. She was one of 12 of the bounty hunter's children.
Reporter Amanda Bohman can be reached at
abohman@newsminer.com or 459-7544. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
