Anchorage

Man found dead in Midtown pond was reported missing in Anchorage last fall

In earlier days, Ezra Golilie Sr. was the kind of father who took his four children -- three sons and a daughter -- ice fishing, hunting, trapping and snowmachining in the country around Shageluk, in Western Alaska.

"He was always doing stuff with me and my brothers," said his daughter Tracy Arrow in a phone interview from Shageluk, where the family has gathered to bury him.

On Monday, Anchorage police identified Golilie, 49, as the man found dead in a Midtown Anchorage pond April 11.

A passer-by spotted the body, partially submerged and frozen. Police said they believed it had been there since before freeze-up.

In Shageluk, Golilie worked carpentry and firefighting jobs.

But in 2008, the family moved to Anchorage to pursue broader education possibilities for their youngest son, Arrow said.

Things began to fall apart for Golilie after the death of his wife, Arrow said.

ADVERTISEMENT

"He was having a really hard time after my mom died," she said. "He kept drinking."

Arrow last saw her father in August. By then he was slipping deep into street life. He'd call to check in with family members daily. Then every other day.

In October, Arrow filed a missing-persons report with police.

"She told police her father is homeless, has a drinking problem, is known to go to Bean's Cafe, panhandle in Midtown and has camped in the Spenard area," according to an Anchorage police synopsis of the missing-person case.

Family members made missing-person fliers with Golilie's picture and posted them in parks and shelters.

For Golilie's family, news of his death brings pain but also the relief of certainty.

"We've been looking for him for so long," Arrow said.

Megan Edge contributed to this story.

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.

ADVERTISEMENT