Alaska News

Troopers identify woman who died in May at Anchorage jail

Alaska State Troopers have released the name of an inmate who died May 23 at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.

Dana Kotton, also known as Tana Kotton, 33, hung herself while incarcerated in the Anchorage Correctional Complex's housing unit for women, troopers said in an online dispatch.

She had been booked three days earlier on a criminal mischief charge.

Investigators from the Alaska Bureau of Investigation "determined Kotton had taken her own life and no foul play is suspected."

Kotton's next of kin were notified Friday, the dispatch said.

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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