Anchorage Daily News

Booze caused or contributed to at least four of the seven deaths of men whose bodies were found around the city in May and June, and hypothermia killed a fifth, police said Monday.

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Police say they’ve finished investigating the deaths of five of the seven men and report no signs of foul play, though one man did have a cut on the back of his head.

That man, Anchorage resident Danny Wright, 56, was found May 16 submerged in Campbell Creek near 48th Avenue and Lake Otis Parkway. Autopsy and toxicology reports from the state medical examiner’s office determined the death was accidental — he drowned after falling into the creek while intoxicated, according to police.

The other men whose bodies were found between May 7 and June 3 were Stanley Ivey, 58; Wesley Small, 50; Joseph Ferreira, 53; and Simeon Boots, 38. All were homeless or familiar with life on the street.

Two of them drank themselves to death, while another died of a combination of drugs and alcohol, according to police. The last man died of “hypothermia due to environmental exposure,” police said.

Police are not saying which cause of death killed which man “out of respect for the family,” police Lt. Dave Parker said.

Two other deaths remain under investigation, though they too did not appear suspicious, police said.

Edwin Wheeler, 45, originally from Bethel, was found June 1 near a picnic table outside an apartment building at 436 E. 11th Ave. with alcohol bottles and cans nearby.

Two people discovered another body on June 24 — a man lying face-down in a ditch near the Northway Mall. Police described the area as a frequent drinking spot. That man, described as in his mid-40s, has not yet been publicly identified, pending notification of his family.

Autopsies have already been completed on both men, Parker said, but police still need to see toxicology reports that will show what chemicals were in their bodies when they died. Toxicology screenings are conducted out of state and getting results can take a month or more.

ALARMING ADDITCTION

Parker said nothing appears to link the deaths, and the number this spring, although unusual, seems to be a matter of coincidence.

The deaths have been of concern to homeless advocates, though the extent of the role alcohol seems to have played in the deaths didn’t appear to be a surprise.

“It is alarming,” said Melinda Freemon, director of Homeward Bound, a nonprofit that helps chronic homeless alcoholics find permanent housing. “It doesn’t surprise me, the statistical nature of it, though, because when people are addicted to alcohol and they’ve been chronically homeless — the longer that situation goes on, the harder it is to intervene.”

Alaska’s rate of alcohol-induced deaths has consistently remained about 2½ times the national average since 2000, and between 2005 and 2006 the rate increased 16 percent, according to the state Department of Health and Social Services.

“The body can only handle so much, and after a while, whether it’s substance abuse or just not taking care of it, eventually it just shuts down,” said Robert Heffle, director of the Salvation Army’s Clitheroe Center.

STATEWIDE ISSUE

According to a department report prepared last year, an estimated 41,000 Alaskans age 12 and older were dependent on or abused alcohol in 2006. About 22,000 were estimated to be dependent on alcohol.

Despite the high rate of alcohol problems in Alaska, there aren’t enough services for people seeking treatment for addictions, said Dewayne Harris, program director at the Brother Francis Shelter.

“It’s definitely a long, arduous process for an individual to gain access into one of the programs, and the wait list, depending on the time of year, is pretty long,” Harris said.

For example, the number of detox beds available in Anchorage has dwindled in recent years, Freemon said. Some homeless alcoholics might be so far gone as to not want help, she said, but a large percentage of them do want a way out. Their addictions stop them, she said.

“I don’t believe that anybody wants to kill themself and wants to die an undignified death in a ditch,” Freemon said. “What do we do for those that don’t want the care? Well, we keep offering it.”

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.

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