Body recovered from Sitka landslide

A new home under construction on Sitka’s Kramer Avenue was obliterated in the slide, Aug. 18, 2015. A neighboring home is unscathed. (Photo by Joel Curtis/National Weather Service)
A new home under construction on Sitka’s Kramer Avenue was obliterated in the slide, Aug. 18, 2015. A neighboring home is unscathed. (Photo by Joel Curtis/National Weather Service)

Search crews recovered a body from the Kramer Avenue landslide in Sitka at about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday. The victim has not been identified.

Sitka Fire Chief Dave Miller reports that a team of cadaver dogs from Juneau led searchers to a sweatshirt on the west side of the slide, and subsequently to the body. Miller would not confirm the identity except to say, “It’s one of the [Diaz] boys.”

Elmer Diaz, 26, and his brother Ulises, 25, were working in one of the new homes under construction in the subdivision just off Kramer Avenue. The structure was completely obliterated by the landslide that struck Tuesday morning. The Diaz family has maintained vigil at Grace Harbor Church since the event.

Still missing are one of the Diaz brothers and Sitka building official William Stortz, 62, who was inspecting drainage in the subdivision when the slide occurred.

 

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