An Alakanuk man's body was discovered near his home last week after his snowmachine got stuck and he died of exposure, troopers said.
No foul play is suspected in the death of 40-year-old Paul Ayunerak, Alaska State Troopers said in a Wednesday dispatch. Troopers were informed Feb. 16 that Ayunerak had been found dead in Alakanuk, a Yukon River community of 700 people.
"Investigation shows that (Ayunerak) got his snowmachine stuck in deep snow approximately 50 yards from his house," troopers wrote. "Ayunerak took off most of his clothing and laid down in the snow near the machine. It appears he succumbed to exposure."
Removing clothing, also referred to as "paradoxical undressing," can be a warning sign of severe hypothermia, according to a 2012 study published in the International Journal of Circumpolar Health. In that study, about 30 percent of 207 studied cases of fatal hypothermia exhibited some degree of paradoxical undressing.
Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said investigators received reports that Ayunerak had been drinking alcohol prior to his death. She didn't have word on when his body was discovered or whether anybody else was at Ayunerak's home at the time.
Craig Eckert, the observing program leader at the National Weather Service office in Fairbanks, said the closest weather readouts available for the time of Ayunerak's death were from Bethel, about 160 miles southeast of Alakanuk. On Feb. 15, Bethel's high temperature was 18 degrees with a low of 2 degrees.
Winds were moderate in Bethel at the time, Eckert said.
"It wasn't brutal, but you can't be exposed for very long," Eckert said.
Ayunerak's body was taken to the State Medical Examiner Office in Anchorage for an autopsy.