Three people died on the Kenai Peninsula in the last week in separate incidents.
On Sunday, Alaska State Troopers said 87-year-old Bruce Lape succumbed to injuries sustained during a multi-vehicle car crash late last month in Kasilof. Troopers say they responded to an automatic crash notification from a phone on the Sterling Highway near the Johnson Lake Campground.
A dispatch says Lape was attempting to turn left onto the highway from North Cohoe Loop Road and was hit by a minivan traveling south. Lape was taken to a Kenai Peninsula hospital and then airlifted to Anchorage with serious injuries. The minivan driver was uninjured.
Last Friday, troopers were dispatched to Hope after a woman tripped and fell to her death from a cliff near the Palmer Lakes Trail. Troopers say U.S. Forest Service rangers, state wildlife troopers and the Alaska Mountain Rescue group helped them recover 77-year-old Joyce Weiss’ body. Troopers do not suspect foul play.
Earlier that day, troopers recovered the body of a 71-year-old Georgia man from the Kenai River. An online dispatch says someone called troopers early Friday morning to report a dead body, later identified as John Trippe, floating in the river near a boat ramp off Scout Lake Loop Road in Sterling.
Troopers say an early investigation determined Trippe had planned to fish in the area. Officers did not find anything suspicious about Trippe’s death, and sent his body to the State Medical Examiner’s Office.
