"In Mikus I've lost the person who would give me advice and always be there"

Wednesday 09 January 2019

"I regret not having another picture of us together and I regret not going to meet him when we'd arranged to, we were having a laugh right up until our last message," a friend of Mikus Alps has said, a year after his death.

Having known the Latvian national for nine years, he is dubious and said his main comfort is the thought that Mikus - 'Mick' to his friends - might one day get back in touch.

Speculation as to how the skeletal remains of 33-year-old Mr Alps came to be found in his burnt out car at a secluded area near Petit Bot on 8 January 2018 have now plagued his friends and family around the world for a full year, but at this point a funeral is still to take place and closure is hard to come by for them. 

Having moved to the island over a decade ago, Mr Alps soon became involved in the local Drum n Bass scene where he met his friend.

"We were probably doing three big gigs a year in our height, it's not going so well now. I've lost a lot of drive for the music, it's like I've lost the person who would give me advice and always be there for advice," he said.

The ongoing investigation, including forensics to determine the cause of death, has been delayed subject to the availability of the few experts in the country who are capable of working with remains in that particular state. 

Theories from the public and friends alike have included Russian involvement due to Mr Alps' role in the Ukrainian Defence League, frequently travelling to the country to support the grass roots anti-Russian war effort, something which can be seen on his still active Facebook page. 

Pictured: Screenshot from the local pro-Ukrainian page started by Mikus Alps. 

"In the year since, there's been a couple of us would talk about what we thought happened, and there are a few who are still troubled by it and don't want to discuss it at all. There's nothing to go on for us. The messages to the media show they have no idea what's going on. As much as the Police say they're sorry for friends and family, we want to know what happened. I think the police have missed the boat. The only thing which will make this better is if he came back, or they find who did this," he said.

During the investigation into the whereabouts of Mikus Alps, two men were arrested upon the discovery of drugs and firearms. His friend said he feels like certain elements of the investigation have been handled poorly, including a lack of focus on the Russian theory. 

"I think there's some truth in the opinion that the Police want to show Guernsey as a nice place where things like this don't happen. I feel they've said he was dealing drugs and that's it, I think it's been poorly dealt with. If it was a financial worker or someone from the States it would've been looked at more closely. I think they've probably not given it as much attention. There's been no mention of cctv cameras, surely there's footage of him. If they'd have done their job properly and secured the scene they would've been three steps ahead.

At the court case regarding the firearms and drugs charges against a friend of Mr Alps, witnesses mentioned that he had felt he was being targeted and his car 'rammed'. Recently another associate of Mr Alps' went public to say the number '200' had been written on his car.

'Cargo 200' or 'Gruz 200' is a military code word for 'casualties being transferred from the battlefield to burial,' it refers to the words etched into zinc coffins transported by air. Several Ukrainian news sites published stories about a minivan daubed with a reference to Cargo 200 last year.

Pictured: Story about Cargo 200 markings from a Ukrainian news site  

"Reading about the 200 mark on the car (Mr Alps' car) gave me shivers, it seemed like a rumour, everyone had been putting in their two cents. Seeing that made me question everything that made me feel better about it. I'm still hoping one day to find out he just ran away. That's what I've been comforted by.

"Nobody knows, still people are asking when we're going to have the funeral. Still in the back of my mind I'm thinking he could get in touch, the last time I spoke to him was on the Sunday, I was due to meet him.

"If you can say losing sleep and thinking about it constantly is affecting your mental health then yes it's affected my mental heath. But we've all lost someone at some point who was always around and there for us. I regret not having another picture of us together and I regret not going to meet him when we'd arranged to, we were having a laugh right up until our last message. I could've been able to talk to him, to change the outcome, or just to see him again that's my biggest regret," he said. 

Pictured top: A friend of Mikus Alps has spoken out about losing him.