Rural Alaska

Man snowmachining on Bethel road dies after crash

BETHEL — A snowmachine operator who crashed in Bethel over the weekend died a short time after being hospitalized for his injuries, police reported.

The crash remains under investigation. It appeared that the driver, identified by police as James Joekay Jr., 28, of Napaskiak, lost control on a sharp turn and went off the road, Bethel police Sgt. Amy Davis said Wednesday.

Police are trying to retrace Joekay's activities before the crash and are gathering more information, including from toxicology tests, she said.

The crash occurred on Standard Oil Road off Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway and near an entry point for the frozen Kuskokwim River. Police were alerted just before 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

Lisa Demer

Lisa Demer was a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Dispatch News. Among her many assignments, she spent three years based in Bethel as the newspaper's western Alaska correspondent. She left the ADN in 2018.

ADVERTISEMENT