Mat-Su

Troopers: Mat-Su woman died of natural causes, not moose attack

Alaska State Troopers say a 74-year-old woman found dead Sunday outside her home in the Settlers Bay area died of natural causes, not as the result of a moose attack as initially suspected.

Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said Monday that Pattie Cucinello's death "appears to be a fatal moose attack." But an autopsy concluded that wasn't the case, according to an updated trooper dispatch posted online Tuesday.

Troopers responded just after 3:15 p.m. Sunday to a report of a dead person on South Timberview Drive outside Wasilla, the original dispatch says. Cucinello was found in the driveway.

[Woman found dead in Mat-Su was apparently killed by moose]

"There were injuries on the body and moose tracks on scene," Peters said Tuesday, "and based on what (the responding trooper) saw it was feasible that it was a moose encounter that led to her death."

However, Cucinello's injuries occurred after she died, Peters said, and troopers still didn't suspect foul play in the death. Peters said troopers don't believe the trauma was caused by another person, but declined to elaborate further or provide a more exact cause of death.

"We don't want people to blame it on a moose when it wasn't a moose," she said.

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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