Unknown 2011-08-15

Man's body washes ashore in Seward campground

By CASEY GROVE, casey.grove@adn.com, Published: August 16th, 2011

A man's body has washed ashore in Seward, police say, and authorities are trying to determine who he is and how he died.

Tourists camping at Seward Waterfront Park, a city-owned campground along Resurrection Bay, saw the body and called police about 9:15 a.m. Monday, Lt. Louis Tiner said.

Seward police were unable to identify the man, who is thought to be between 40 and 50 years old, Tiner said.

"The state medical examiner is in the process of fingerprinting (the body)," he said. "We're hoping to get an ID through that."

There were no immediate signs of foul play, Tiner said. The body was in good condition, meaning it was not badly decomposed, he said.

Police declined to release any additional details about the dead man's description.

"If we don't have any results through the prints, then physical descriptors and a photo will eventually be released in the hopes of somebody coming forward and identifying the person," Tiner said. "You don't want the family or next of kin to be notified by a photo like that."

Tiner said there are no unsolved missing-persons cases in Seward. Police were unable to find any missing people in the Alaska State Troopers' records whose descriptions match that of the body.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call the Seward Police Department at (907) 224-3338.

Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.