Investigation

Alaska State Troopers are investigating the death of an Eagle River man whose body was found Wednesday morning at a motel near Tok. A Thursday AST dispatch says troopers responded at about 11:45 a.m. Wednesday to the discovery, near Mile 1314 of the Alaska Highway. “Investigation revealed that Daniel S. Braun, age 27 of Eagle River, AK was discovered deceased by motel staff,” troopers wrote. AST spokesperson Megan Peters says no foul play is suspected in the death. Braun's next of kin have been notified and an investigation is in progress.

One business was destroyed, and three others were damaged in a fire that broke out on Talkeetna's Main Street early Thursday morning.  No one was hurt. Chief Ken Farina says the blaze started around 2:25 A.M. inside the Little Dumplings Café and spread to the Denali Zipline Tours building and Denali Dry Goods Store.  The Wildflower Café suffered minor damage to its porch. Crews from as far away as Wasilla and Houston were called into assist.  "It could have been absolutely devastating,” said Farina.  “I mean if we had the winds we had going on here a couple days ago. " "I lost a lot of old things in the attic like a huge grizzly bear hide,” said Denali Dry Goods owner Tom Waite.

Anchorage Police are investigating a suspicious death after answering a 911 call reporting that a man was not breathing inside a home in the 7600 block of Little Bend Circle. When police arrived they found 20-year old Timothy Nickoli of Anchorage dead. The major crime scene team was at the home for most of the day and into Thursday evening. Allysia Thampthak, who lives across from the house where Nickoli was found dead, told police she was outside smoking late Wednesday night.

An investigation is under way into a small plane that crashed during an emergency landing on Grewingk Glacier Thursday after its engine stalled. According to state troopers, the Homer Air Cessna's pilot, Homer resident James C. Christensen, was able to glide the plane over the glacier to land, but the plane flipped over when it hit a crevasse on the glacier. A preliminary investigation revealed that the plane lost power at 5,000 feet. The passengers, all from Germany, as well as Christensen were transported to South Peninsula Hospital with minor injuries.

Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Bureau of Investigation are investigating the death of an elderly woman in the Northwest Alaska village of Kiana. According to trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters, AST received a report late Friday evening that Dolly Smith, approximately 70 years old, was found dead in Kiana. Troopers call the death suspicious but have released few details of the incident. This is a developing story. Check back later for updates. Contact Abby Hancock: Email Facebook Twitter  

An investigation is underway in Denali National Park to determine what caused a cargo plane to crash near the park's headquarters Sunday afternoon, killing three people on board. Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board say they are still in the early stages of an investigation into the 3 p.m. crash of the Fairchild C-123, registered to All West Freight, Inc. of Delta Junction. Pilot and company owner Bill Michel, 61, as well as 52-year-old John Eshleman and 66-year-old Paul Quartly, both of Wasilla, were killed when the plane crashed into the southern slope of Mount Healy, within a mile of park headquarters.

More than two months after a Fairbanks man was burned on New Year's Day and days later died, the Fairbanks Police Department says the investigation remains open. Fairbanks firefighters found 59-year-old John Druck Wallis seriously burned on Jan. 1 around 5:50 a.m. inside the post office lobby at 315 Bamette Street. Wallis was taken to the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and then to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where he died on Jan. 5. King County Medical Examiner's Office has yet to complete a report to its official findings after conducting an autopsy.

The FBI and the Anchorage Police Department returned Tuesday morning to a Turnagain home where Israel Keyes, the suspect arrested and charged with the kidnapping and killing of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig, stayed in Anchorage. FBI Special Agent Eric Gonzalez confirmed that FBI was on location and that APD were assisting with the investigation. The APD crime scene van and investigators with metal detectors were at the home located at the 2400 block of Spurr Ln. The home was raided in March and the FBI seized a storage unit . Keyes remains in federal custody awaiting trial for his alleged connection with the missing barista's death in February earlier this year.

Anchorage police have arrested a 61-year-old man on child pornography charges, saying he sent explicit videos to an undercover investigator with the Alaska State Troopers during the last three months. According to APD spokesperson Dani Myren, Donald T. Johnson was taken into custody by Cyber Crimes Unit detectives Wednesday. He came to the attention of law enforcement in September, when he allegedly began to correspond online with AST investigator Terrence Shanigan. “Between September 2012 and the end of December 2012 Investigator Shanigan received numerous videos from Johnson that depicted the sexual abuse of children between 9 and 13 years old,” Myren wrote in a Thursday statement on the case.

Anchorage firefighters are investigating a fire at a Midtown coffee stand early Tuesday morning, this month's second suspicious blaze at a local food-service establishment with indications of burglary beforehand. According to Anchorage Fire Department spokesperson Al Tamagni Jr., a passerby called crews to the Sugar Shack coffee stand at 3720 Lake Otis Pkwy. at about 4:04 a.m. While 12 AFD units were initially dispatched to the fire, Anchorage police were among the first responders.

A Coast Guard hearing began Monday to investigate the contributing factors that led to the New Year's eve grounding of the Shell Oil drilling rig Kulluk near Sitkalidak Island. On Jan. 4, 2013, the Coast Guard launched its formal marine casualty investigation.  In the months that followed, the Coast Guard gathered evidence leading up to Monday's public witness testimony in Anchorage at the Loussac Library. On day one of a 10-day hearing, the Coast Guard introduced 79-items of evidence that included Shell's tow plan, daily operation reports, photos, diagrams and video showing the failure of emergency tow lines.

Anchorage Police Department officials say a former officer is facing misconduct charges after improperly trying to have a DUI case dismissed against a 23-year-old woman with whom he was having a relationship. APD spokesperson Dani Myren says police have completed an investigation of Mark J. Moeller. He has been charged with eight counts of criminal use of a computer -- all felonies -- in addition to five misdemeanors, including four counts of misuse of confidential information and one count of official misconduct.

Alaska State Troopers are investigating the Wednesday death of a 22-month-old infant several days after an all-terrain-vehicle crash, with few details immediately available about what happened. According to a Friday AST dispatch, Delta Junction troopers were told at about 3:05 p.m. Monday that the child -- later identified as Charles Goss -- was at the local clinic and not breathing. “It was reported that the child was experiencing breathing problems initially after an ATV crash that had occurred a few days ago but has been okay after that and seemed to have improved,” troopers wrote.

Alaska State Troopers are investigating the death of an Eagle River man whose body was found Wednesday morning at a motel near Tok. A Thursday AST dispatch says troopers responded at about 11:45 a.m. Wednesday to the discovery, near Mile 1314 of the Alaska Highway. “Investigation revealed that Daniel S. Braun, age 27 of Eagle River, AK was discovered deceased by motel staff,” troopers wrote. AST spokesperson Megan Peters says no foul play is suspected in the death. Braun's next of kin have been notified and an investigation is in progress.

The Coast Guard's investigation into the New Year's Eve grounding of the Kulluk, a Shell drilling rig, remains ongoing as authorities prepare hearings in Anchorage next week. The Coast Guard wrote in an email that the hearing will be a formal marine causality investigation hearing, which will “provide a forum for the investigating officer to collect information from government and industry professionals about the incident.” “All of [these] hearings are information gathering and it will go back to the District 17th commander,” Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley, said.

Anchorage fire investigators are looking into a Saturday morning fire that scorched a local restaurant. 15 units from the Anchorage Fire Department responded to a fire at Sunrise Grill off of Old Seward at about 5 a.m. No one was hurt and fire marshals say they don't know what caused the fire. Investigators say it took fire crews a couple of hours to put out the blaze and they'll be back on Monday to do more research as to what caused the fire. “The majority of the structure is intact but it might be a total loss for the business,” said Brian Balega, AFD Investigator.

Alaska State Troopers are investigating the death of an Anchorage man whose body was found Monday near Kasilof, with few details immediately available on how it happened. A Friday AST dispatch says the body of 50-year-old Calvin Bennett was found at about 4 p.m. Monday, near Mile 102.5 of the Sterling Highway. “Bennett was found approximately 30 yards off the highway in the wood line,” troopers wrote. According to AST spokesperson Megan Peters, troopers don't believe foul play was involved in Bennett's death.

Alaska State Troopers say “foul play is suspect,” connected to the death of a Minto man Thursday morning in the village about 130 road miles from Fairbanks. A village health worker found 26-year-old Jordan Baker at a residence where Baker stayed the night but did not live there, according to troopers. Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Beth Ipsen says, “at this point, it appears to be an isolated incident and we're waiting on autopsy results to determine the cause of death.” On Thursday, state investigators drove to Minto to collect evidence and Baker's body will be flown to the Medical Examiner's office in Anchorage and testing should be done in the next few days.

Seward officials say a person found dead after a fire early Friday that consumed an old school bus hasn't yet been identified. The fire, first reported by the Seward City News, occurred at about 12:45 a.m. on property of the Seward Ships Chandlery on Leirer Road. Firefighters found the bus, which had been converted into a camper, fully engulfed in flames; they later discovered a body at the scene. Seward Police Chief Tom Clemons says no determination of whether foul play was involved has been made, although the site of the fire was cordoned off as a crime scene.