The identity of body found on a beach in Nikiski last Thursday is still unknown, a state official said Monday.
Gretchen Weiss-Brooks, an information officer with the Alaska Department of Public Safety, said the body has been sent to a crime lab and medical examiners are due to report on the autopsy soon, but that she “can’t say for certain when we’re going to get that autopsy report back.”
People traveling along the beach located the remains, according to a Friday dispatch from the Alaska State Troopers. Both Alaska State and Wildlife Troopers were the first on the scene, where they recovered the body.
Troopers reported on Friday that there were “no obvious signs of foul play,” which Weiss-Brooks said means that there are no obvious bodily signs of harm at this time.
She did say, however, that the body had been exposed to water and the “elements.”
The gender of the body is also still unknown.
Weiss-Brooks said that if a solid identification of the remains is made the next of kin will be notified before information is released to the public, as multiple families have reached out to her office to see if it’s the body of a loved one.
Reach reporter Camille Botello at camille.botello@peninsulaclarion.com.
