ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Anchorage has already seen three outdoor deaths this year — one near West High School, and two in a tent at Minnesota Drive and Spenard Road.
On Jan. 3, Anchorage Police responded to the three outdoor deaths. According to the department, an outdoor death is considered when the person does not have a fixed address and dies outdoors.
In 2024, APD reported 50 outdoor deaths, slightly under the 2023 record of 51 outdoor deaths, with both April and October 2024 seeing the highest death toll of nine per month.
Police had identified one of the deceased to be 35-year-old Jordan McEachern as one of the two people found in a tent. The adult male, who was found in the tent with McEachern, has yet to be identified.
The name of the adult male found near West High School has yet to be released. APD noted that next-of-kin procedures have not been completed.
“It’s absolutely tragic,” Emily Carroll, the First United Methodist Church lead pastor, said. “Homelessness affects us all.”
Carroll, in the past, shared she has held funerals for people who died from an outdoor death. Carroll told Alaska’s News Source that the grief is felt community-wide.
“Many of them are in the community, not just with other people who are homeless, but with people who are not homeless as well. When people on the street, people pass, the community grieves just like the loss they would of any other member,” Carroll said.
Last year, Anchorage did not see its third outdoor death until April 21.
“I’m tired of seeing my family and my friends die out here,” Wolf Shadowwind, who is staying at the Henry House, said.
Shadowwind said he wants to point people to the new warming center’s direct location in downtown Anchorage, which opened last Friday near 4th Avenue and Gambell Street.
“What I would suggest is, if you get too dang cold at night, you come here. You know, stop being out being stupid, trying to freeze to death,” Shadowwind said.
Earlier this year, the warming center was a solution the LaFrance administration turned to in preparation for colder temperatures.
Earlier this week, a spokesperson with the Municipality of Anchorage noted a connection between warming sites and saving lives.
“Absolutely,” Farina Brown, the Municipality of Anchorage’s homeless and housing coordinator, said. “Having somewhere that an individual can go and can walk up that creates that life safety factor for them is one of the basic things that we can do for unhoused neighbors.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
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