Alaska News

Anchorage inmate dies days after suicide attempt

A Chugiak man who attempted suicide at the Anchorage jail Sunday has died, the Department of Corrections and his family said.

Jail nursing personnel found Mark Bolus, 24, unresponsive in an isolation cell at the Anchorage Correctional Center at 8:05 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Department of Corrections. He had hung himself with bedsheets.

Bolus was pronounced dead at 3:46 p.m. on Tuesday at Alaska Regional Hospital, according to officials and his family.

He suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, his family said.

Bolus was discovered alone in an isolated cell on Sunday, the DOC has said.

His mother, Maria Rathbun, said her son told her he'd asked to be in an isolation cell because the general population scared him.

Bolus was in jail on a probation violation, according to the Department of Corrections.

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Bolus is the third person to die at a Southcentral Alaska jail in six weeks.

On April 4, Davon Mosley, 20, died alone in a cell at the Anchorage jail. He had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, his family said. Autopsy results showed he died from bleeding ulcers.

On April 10, 24-year-old Amanda Kernak died at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River. No autopsy results have been released in her case yet, but her family has said she had heart problems and was withdrawing from alcohol.

Reach Michelle Theriault Boots at mtheriault@adn.com or 257-4344.

By MICHELLE THERIAULT BOOTS

mtheriault@adn.com

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.

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