Mother, daughter die after Wrangell car crash

A mother and daughter died last week in Wrangell after their car went off a road, according to the Wrangell Police Department.

Two other children were flown to Seattle for their injuries, WPD Chief Doug McCloskey said Tuesday. The mother, 32-year-old Rainie Doak, was driving, and her 7-year-old daughter Stacy was also killed in the crash. McCloskey said the cause of the crash has not been determined yet, but accelerated driving appears to be a factor.

Nobody in the car was wearing seat belts, McCloskey said, and all the passengers were ejected from the car as it flipped down an embankment. The other girls are 12 and 3 years old, McCloskey said.

Friends of the family set up a GoFundMe page entitled “Doak Family,” which raised more than $10,000 in its first seven days. The page is still accepting donations for travel, medical and lodging expenses.

The crash is believed to have occurred around midnight as Sunday, June 10 turned to Monday, June 11, McCloskey said, as Doak and her children were coming home from being out the road south of Wrangell. The car was not found until the following evening as a man on his bike was passing the scene and saw the car off the road, McCloskey said.

Police arrived at the scene just before 6 p.m. June 11, McCloskey said, to find that the car had flipped. EMTs quickly got the two surviving passengers away from the scene and on a plane to Seattle, McCloskey said. He said he has not heard any official update, but the word around town is that the two surviving daughters’ conditions are improving in Seattle.

McCloskey said fatal car crashes are very rare in Wrangell.

“In 26 years of being here, this is the third,” McCloskey said.

The police investigation is still continuing, McCloskey said, and they’re waiting for the State Medical Examiner’s Office to get back to them with toxicology reports.


• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.


More in News

(Juneau E
Aurora forecast for the week of Nov. 27

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

Scant patches of snow remain at the base of Eaglecrest Ski area on Wednesday despite snowmaking efforts that occurred during the weekend, due to warmer temperatures and rain this week. The opening date for the ski area, originally set for Dec. 2 and then delayed until Dec. 9, is now undetermined. (Photo courtesy of Eaglecrest Ski Area)
Eaglecrest opening delayed again, target date now TBD

Warm temperatures and rain thwart efforts to open ski area on Saturday.

Work crews continue removing hundreds of truckloads of debris from Zimovia Highway since the Nov. 20 landslide in Wrangell. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Clearing work continues at Wrangell slide; fundraising grows to help families

Juneau, with several thousand pounds of food collected in drive, among many communities assisting.

The front page of the Juneau Empire on Dec. 4, 2005. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week of Dec. 10

Three decades of capital city coverage.

Staff of the Ketchikan Misty Fjords Ranger District carry a 15-foot-long lodgepole pine near the Silvis Lake area to a vessel for transport to Juneau on Nov. 30. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Together Tree departs Ketchikan for Governor’s Residence in Juneau

Annual Holiday Open House featuring 21,350 cookies scheduled 3-6 p.m. Dec. 12.

Female caribou runs near Teshekpuk Lake on June 12, 2022. (Photo by Ashley Sabatino, Bureau of Land Management)
Alaska tribes urge protection for federal lands

80% of food comes from surrounding lands and waters for Alaska Native communities off road system.

Ron Ekis (wearing red) and Dakota Brown order from Devils Hideaway at the new Vintage Food Truck Park as Marty McKeown, owner of the property, shows seating facilities still under construction to other local media members on Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
New Vintage Food Truck Park makes year-round debut

Two of planned five food trucks now open, with covered seating and other offerings in the works.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

An aerial view of mud and forest debris that buried a stretch of the Zimovia Highway a day after a landslide struck an area of Wrangell on Nov. 21. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Authorities in Wrangell suspend search for boy missing after deadly landslide

Authorities have suspended the search for the 12-year-old boy still missing following… Continue reading

Most Read