Juneau Mayor’s Death Still A Mystery (Updating)

Update: From the Associated Press:

Police in Alaska’s capital city have not determined whether the city’s new mayor died from a natural event or foul play but have tentatively ruled out gunshots, drugs or suicide in the death.

Stephen “Greg” Fisk, 70, was found in his Juneau home with injuries that police did not describe. Police are awaiting autopsy results to announce a possible cause of death.

“It’s not clear what the cause of those injuries are,” police spokeswoman Erann Kalwara said Tuesday.

Fisk’s adult son of found the mayor’s body Monday and alerted police.

Fisk lived alone. There was no sign of forced entry into Fisk’s home above Juneau’s downtown, where a lone police vehicle sat outside the home Tuesday afternoon. Police tape kept the curious away, and a sign announced the sidewalk – which are really steps along the mountainside street – was closed.

Juneau mayor-elect  Greg Fisk had a lot of ties to the fishing industry. So his mysterious death earlier this week hits hard for Alaska’s outdoors community.

Here are some details of what happened via the Associated Press:

The adult son of Stephen “Greg” Fisk, 70, found the mayor’s body Monday afternoon and alerted police.

Juneau Police Department spokeswoman Erann Kalwara said Tuesday the cause of death remains unknown.

“It’s not clear what the cause of those injuries are,” she said. She could not comment on the nature of the injuries, she said.

Fisk lived alone. There was no sign of forced entry into Fisk’s home above Juneau’s downtown.

Fish handily defeated Juneau’s incumbent mayor, Merrill Sanford, on the Oct. 6 Election Day in Alaska’s capital city, so the timing of his death – which was not ruled to be a suicide per the early reports, does seem a little unsettling. Here’s KTUU with more:

Johnson said Fisk suffered injuries but the exact cause of the injuries is not known. Juneau authorities have declined to speculate on the cause of death.

“Could be natural. Could be an accident. Could be a lot of things,” Johnson said. 

The police chief would not talk in detail about the nature of the injuries. Fisk’s body was spotted through a window by his son Ian Fisk, who police say did not enter the home, according to the son’s account, Johnson said.

The body was found “just inside his front room area,” Johnson told KTUU in an interview at police headquarters.

Johnson said it’s unclear exactly how long Fisk had been dead when he was discovered but had “made some appointments earlier in the day.”

Asked if police have ruled out assault, Johnson said more information is needed to declare a cause of death are proceeding as they would in any case of an unattended death. “What we want to do is investigate everything.”

As for his fishing background, the Alaska Dispatch News  had this to say:

Fisk had a long history in the fishing industry, and was currently working as a fisheries consultant.

State Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, D-Sitka, said he was in a “state of shock” about Fisk’s death.