The mysterious death of a 48-year-old Anchorage woman has prompted a homicide investigation, and is the fifth reported homicide in Anchorage this year. Mia Soltis, who danced at the Crazy Horse, was found dead on the deck of a Jewel Lake home Sunday afternoon.

Paul Honeman, an Anchorage police spokesman, said, "She does not live in the house. We do not know her connection to the house." He also said he did not know how Soltis died, when she died, or why she was at the house. No one was found at the house where Soltis's body was discovered. Honeman said Soltis was found on Sunday shortly before 1:00 PM by someone going door-to-door in the neighborhood. Soltis's body was found on the house's deck that leads to the main entrance.

On Saturday morning a man found Soltis's purse while walking his dog in the neighborhood. The man called police to inform them he had found a purse, but at the time the police were busy investigating a fatal hit-and-run, and said they would get back to him. The man called back later that day to say that he would be leaving town for the day, and on Sunday morning the man called back to say that he was back in town.

Soon after the man's call, Soltis's father called to say his daughter was missing. Around 1:00 PM Honeman received a call from the officer who had taken the missing person's report, the officer was requesting that a photo of the woman be sent to the media in hopes that someone would spot her. Honeman heard that a body had been found on Thurman Drive only minutes later.

Police had retrieved the purse by the time the discovery of Soltis's body had been reported, and connected the purse to her.

Around noon on Sunday, one neighbor reported hearing popping sounds. Betsy Balts, a neighbor who lives about four houses down from the house, was unable to distinguish whether or not the sounds she heard were gunfire.

The owner of the Crazy Horse, Jeannette Johnson, said, "I talked with the doorman and he said he walked her out around 1 o'clock and she got into a cab," that was Saturday morning.

By late Sunday afternoon, Johnson's statement and the discovery of Soltis's purse in the Jewel Lake area had been the only significant pieces of evidence.

According to Johnson, "Her husband called her mom, she called me, and I called the doorman." Johnson said she was under the impression that Soltis was not living in the Jewel Lake area, but a different part of town. Soltis, Johnson said, had two children, ages 14 and 5, and was hoping to start her own business soon. "She wasn't a big drinker or drug user or anything," Johnson said.

As of Monday police have not reported any new information, and have spent much of the day interviewing neighbors. According to some of the neighbors the owners of the house have recently moved into the neighborhood, and are not well known in the area.