Police identify two bodies; no signs of foul play

Newly identified are:

• Wesley Small, a 50-year-old Anchorage resident whose body was found in a tent by a passer-by on May 12 in the area of Third Avenue and Orca Street. Police say there are no signs of foul play.

• Simeon Boots, a 38-year-old Anchorage resident who was found lying on the ground at the edge of woods in Campbell Park, where Laurel Street meets Campbell Creek south of Tudor Road. A man passing through the park found the body May 14. Police say there are no signs of foul play.

The body of another Anchorage resident, Stanley Ivey, 58, was found May 7 and previously identified. A crew participating in the spring cleanup found his body in the woods of a park at 20th Avenue and Karluk Street. No signs of foul play were apparent in that death either.

The fourth body was found Saturday, submerged in Campbell Creek near the baseball field of Campbell Creek Park at East 48th Avenue and Lake Otis Parkway. Police are still trying to confirm his identify and notify his family. He was found within 100 yards of the spot where Simeon Boots' body was discovered. Police say he had a laceration on his head, but it's not yet known if it was result of an assault or an accident. An full autopsy is planned.

All four of the men were "familiar with life on the streets of Anchorage," Anchorage police Lt. Dave Parker said. While their individual stories aren't yet known, it's likely some went back and forth between the woods, shelters and relatives, as most of Anchorage's chronically homeless people do.

It's uncertain whether full autopsies will be performed on all four of the men, Parker said. That is done at the discretion of the state medical examiner. Tests for alcohol are being done to determine if any died of alcohol poisoning or, perhaps, passed out and then succumbed to hypothermia.

"Hypothermia is most dangerous in the spring and fall," Parker said. Sunny daytime weather can lull a person into thinking the night will be mild too. But nights are still chilly, he said.

The deaths don't appear related, police say. The state medical examiner and Anchorage homicide detectives, who are tasked with investigating unexpected, non-accidental deaths, are handling the investigation.

Find Lisa Demer online at adn.com/contact/ldemer or call 257-4390.