Two people found dead in their car in the woods last year died by accident, according to Alaska State Troopers.
Soldotna residents Joni Pearcy, 52, and Daniel Duck, 39, were found dead in their burned Ford Bronco in a wooded area off a trail near Soldotna in November. Their bodies were burned as well. Troopers wrote that their death was an accident in an online dispatch posted Wednesday.
“Toxicology results show impairment and carbon monoxide inhalation were factors,” troopers wrote.
Their families have been notified.
Duck’s sister, Brandy Duck, wrote in an email to the Clarion that her family is disappointed with the results of the investigation, and asking that it be re-opened.
Duck and Pearcy were originally reported missing on Nov. 20. As previously reported by the Clarion, a trooper following up at the home where they were last seen on Nov. 14 found them in the burned Bronco on Nov. 27, after a man came out of the woods and told the trooper he had spotted the bodies.
Pearcy’s body was identified using dental records on Dec. 6, 2016, and Duck was identified through medical records later that month.
The Alaska State Troopers investigated the case along with the State Medical Examiner’s Office, the State Fire Marshal and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to Wednesday’s dispatch.
— Staff Report
