Police on Sunday discovered the dead man, who was lying in a sleeping position, fewer than 100 feet from DeBarr Road, near the intersection with Bragaw. It's the latest in a spate of homeless bodies found across Anchorage this summer.
Police saw no obvious signs of foul play with the latest body. The medical examiner and detectives will now work to determine exactly how he died, said police spokesman Dave Parker.
Someone first told a KTUU Channel 2 photographer about the body Sunday and the station reported it to police, Sgt. Kevin Vandegriff said. As of Sunday night, investigators hadn't talked to the person who first discovered the corpse.
Police strung yellow tape along the trees and brush beside DeBarr -- an area known for illegal camping -- as the smell of decomposition blew onto the sidewalk. The man had likely been dead for several days, Vandegriff said.
"Most greenbelts in downtown and in Anchorage have some form of homeless camps."
Passersby saw the cops, and reporters and medical examiner van and didn't have to be told what happened: another high-profile homeless corpse.
Since early May, the bodies of eight men have been found along trails or in wooded areas. The deaths spurred theories of some kind of killer of the homeless, but liquor has been the most common link.
Alcohol caused or factored in at least four of the deaths, according to information released by police so far.
Police say one death was indeed a homicide, and have charged two teenagers with killing a man July 12 in Centennial Park. The 18-year-olds robbed him for $7 and some beer, according to the charges against them.
Call Kyle Hopkins at 257-4334 or e-mail khopkins@adn.com.
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