Update 9:30 p.m.
Alaska State Troopers are investigating the suspicious death of a 13-year-old girl from Kake, who died sometime Tuesday night.
Troopers identified the girl late Wednesday as Mackenzie Howard. Her body was found at Memorial Presbyterian Church, according to Spokeswoman Megan Peters.
Troopers from Juneau and Anchorage headed to the small, Southeast village Wednesday after the discovery of Howard’s body at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. The investigation includes officials from the Alaska Bureau of Investigation and the state crime lab. Otherwise Troopers are keeping mum about details.
Kake hosted a memorial service for longtime resident and Sealaska Corporation official Clarence Jackson Tuesday, meaning many out of town guests were in the community. It’s not clear how many of those visitors remained in the community Wednesday.
Kake is located on the northeast coast of Kupreanof Island and is home to about 600 residents. The community has no Police Department or Village Public Safety Officer.
Original post from KFSK in Petersburg:
Alaska State Troopers are heading to Kake to investigate a reported death in the small, Southeast village.
Troopers’ Spokeswoman Megan Peters said a body was found in the community, but she could not yet provide more information on the case.
Peters said local EMS responded and confirmed the individual was deceased. She said Alaska State Troopers from Juneau and the Alaska Bureau of Investigation from Anchorage, along with a crime scene response team from the State Crime Detection Laboratory, were en route to Kake this morning to investigate.
Peters said the individual had not yet been positively identified.
There is no Police Department or Village Public Safety Officer in Kake, which is a remote community of about 600 people on the northwest coast of Kupreanof Island.
View Kake, Alaska in a larger map
