Investigation

The Fairbanks death of a man whose body was found outside a tent Thursday is under investigation, according to Alaska State Troopers. A Friday AST dispatch says Fairbanks troopers were notified shortly before 3:30 p.m. Thursday that the man was lying face-down in a wooded area. Troopers found the man dead when they responded with members of the Alaska Bureau of Investigation. While no visible signs of foul play were found at the scene, the body will undergo an autopsy by the state medical examiner's office.

by Lori Tipton Friday, June 4, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The investigation continues into whether the Cessna that crashed in Fairview Tuesday had too much weight on board. The National Transportation Safety Board says investigators have completed their examination of the wreckage, and say there were no mechanical problems with the engine or the aircraft. Instead, the agency suspects the plane was overloaded. In addition to the five passengers there were personal items, clothing, groceries, lumber and tile.

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.

61-year-old James Michael Wells, of Kodiak, was arrested Friday for a April 2012 double murder shooting on Kodiak, according to the U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler's office. On April 12, 2012, Wells allegedly killed two Coast Guard members , USCG Electrician's Mate First Class James Hopkins and retired Chief Boatswain's Mate Richard Belisle, at the Coast Guard Communications Station Kodiak. Wells was a civilian rigger who reportedly worked alongside Belisle and Hopkins and lived in the Bells Flat area about 12 miles from downtown Kodiak.

Anchorage police announced Monday evening that a body believed to be that of missing barista Samantha Koenig was found during a crime-scene investigation in Matanuska Lake, apparently ending a months-long mystery that has gripped the city and attracted national coverage. In a joint appearance with FBI officials at APD headquarters, APD Chief Mark Mew said divers discovered the body Monday morning during an investigation at the lake. The search drew numerous members of APD, the Alaska State Troopers and FBI to the scene, which lies off the Glenn Highway near the Palmer-Wasilla Highway interchange and the Matanuska-Susitna Regional Hospital.

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.

A teen boy was placed in custody in connection with a teen girl found dead in the Southeast village of Kake on Feb. 5, according to Alaska State Troopers. 13-year-old Mackenzie Howard, of Kake, was found in an arctic entry way at the Presbyterian Memorial Church the night the town held a memorial for a well-respected elder. Troopers said the suspect is a 14-year-old boy from Kake and on Saturday he was being transported to a Department of Juvenile Justice holding facility in Ketchikan.

Alaska State Troopers provided more details Friday on a 61-year-old man's death last month in a cabin shooting near Willow, after investigators determined that he was accidentally shot by one of his children who was holding a handgun. According to AST spokesperson Beth Ipsen, Hiline Lake resident John Charles Lamb was struck by a .38-caliber round at his family's cabin at the lake, about 25 air miles west of Willow, on the night of Oct. 15. Alaska Air National Guardsmen airlifted him to Anchorage with a wound to the chest and conducted life-saving efforts, but he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

A Bethel woman has been arrested on one count of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a man Wednesday morning. Brenda Lee Evans, 43, was taken into custody by Bethel police Wednesday night. According to a Bethel Police Department statement, officers responded shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday to a disturbance on the 200 block of State Highway in the home of 63-year-old Charles Beaver, who was found dead at the scene. “Foul play was immediately suspected and additional BPD staff responded,” police wrote in the statement.

A Wasilla child care facility's license has been suspended pending an investigation of a 19-month-old girl's apparent suffocation there last week, state officials said Wednesday. According to Department of Health and Social Services spokesperson Ree Sailors, investigators are trying to determine how Faith Phillips was able to trap her head in a piece of playground equipment Thursday morning at Illuminations Child Care. She was taken to a local hospital, but died Sunday. The facility has also been subjected to previous enforcement actions, including a completed investigation of a June 2011 incident in which it was fined for failure to protect a child from exposure to possible dangers, as well as failure to ensure those in care received responsible supervision.