Juneau police on Wednesday responded to two apparent suicides on Wednesday, just four hours apart. Police say the two cases (which took place in public) are not related.
Both cases involved men who died from gunshot wounds that appear to be self-inflicted, police said. Foul play is not suspected in either case, police said.
At 11:26 a.m. Wednesday, the Juneau Police Department received a call from someone at the end of Mendenhall Peninsula Road who reported they had found a man’s body, JPD Lt. Krag Campbell said in an interview. When police arrived, they identified the man as Cary Douglas Jones, 34.
A handgun was found nearby, Campbell said, and no foul play is suspected. Jones’ remains have been sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy, Campbell said.
Just half an hour later, JPD got a call requesting help in locating 32-year-old Juneau man Chan Valentine, who had gone missing. At 4:02 p.m., Campbell said, officers spotted Valentine’s white Ford Ranger truck parked at Lena Beach.
When officers arrived, they found Valentine in the front seat, deceased. He had a gunshot wound, and there was a handgun nearby. Again, Campbell said, foul play is not suspected. Valentine’s body was also sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy, Campbell said.
In May 2017, Valentine was the sole survivor of a plane crash near Haines that claimed the lives of 29-year-old Juneau man David Kunat and 29-year-old California resident Stanley Su Quoc Nguyen.
Editor’s Note: Suicide is a serious topic. If you’re in trouble and need help, please talk to someone. If you don’t think you can talk to someone in person, call the Alaska CARELINE at 1-877-266-HELP, or visit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the Alaska Community Mental Health Centers, or juneausuicideprevention.org.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
