On February 5, 2026, 36-year-old Kirby Calderwood pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the case of missing Homer, Alaska, resident Anesha “Duffy” Murnane.
Dateline featured Duffy’s story in its ‘Missing in America’ series in February of 2020. Duffy was last seen on October 17, 2019, walking away from her Main Street apartment. At the time, police told Dateline security cameras captured the 38-year-old leaving the MainTree Apartments, an assisted living facility, on foot around 12:15 p.m. According to her family, Duffy had a 1:00 p.m. appointment that day, only a mile from her home. She never made it to the appointment.
On May 9, 2022, the Homer Police Department arrested Kirby Calderwood, an Ogden, Utah, resident, charging him with “Kidnapping, Murder in the 1st degree, Murder in the 2nd degree and Tampering with physical evidence” in Duffy’s disappearance. According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant for Calderwood, Homer PD received an anonymous tip on April 14, 2022, that was “very specific in naming the person responsible and how the kidnapping, murder and destruction of evidence were committed.”
According to the affidavit, Investigator Matt Haney with the Homer Police Department interviewed Calderwood in May of 2021, and Calderwood stated that for “four or five months in or about the fall of 2018, he worked at MainTree Housing where he met Anesha Murnane.” Calderwood moved from Homer to Utah sometime after that interview, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also states that in May 2022, Calderwood’s wife identified herself as the anonymous tipster, and provided a statement to the police detailing Calderwood’s confession. She said Calderwood admitted to murdering Duffy in the crawlspace of a home owned by the parents of his girlfriend at the time. She also said he kept Duffy’s wristwatch, and “it may have been a Timex.”
Dateline reported in 2022 that Haney and the Ogden Police Department executed multiple search warrants related to Calderwood. “During the execution of the search warrant… a small ladies Timex watch with a black band was found in Calderwood’s clothes dresser drawer,” the affidavit reads. Also found nearby was Duffy’s missing persons flyer.
On February 6, 2026, the State of Alaska Department of Law issued a press release with details regarding the investigation and Calderwell’s plea agreement. According to the press release, Homer police and the FBI searched the crawlspace, and DNA evidence found there was confirmed to be Duffy’s.
On February 5, 2026, nearly four years after his arrest, Calderwood appeared before Kenai Superior Court Judge Kelly Lawson and admitted that he had murdered Duffy, according to the press release. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The press release states that the plea agreement “calls for Calderwood to be sentenced to 99 years in prison with 12 years suspended, for an active jail sentence of 87 years to serve, to be followed by 10 years of probation.” Sentencing will take place on July 1 in Homer.
A post on the Bring Duffy Home Facebook group announced the news of Calderwood’s guilty plea, including a statement from the family which read, “Duffy’s family and friends are grateful for all the support shown all these many years.”
Duffy’s remains have not been found.
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