This is a developing story and will be updated.
A wreck just before 1 a.m. Tuesday led to a pickup truck sinking into Auke Lake and two of the vehicle’s three male occupants being thrown from the truck, police say.
A Juneau Police Department spokesperson confirmed the body of the vehicle’s third occupant, a 19-year-old, was recovered from the water mid-Tuesday morning. By early afternoon, crews had recovered the vehicle from the lake. JPD did not release the identities of any of three occupants of the truck, and the ages and condition of the vehicle’s other two occupants was not immediately clear. Messages seeking additional information were not returned as of Tuesday evening.
JPD spokesperson Lt. Krag Campbell said the next of kin has been notified and the identity of the person found in the vehicle would be released today.
At 12:51 a.m. Tuesday, police received a report of a crash on Glacier Highway at Auke Lake involving a white Chevrolet pickup that lost control and flipped several times, according to police. The truck landed in Auke Lake where it became fully submerged.
JPD officers survey the scene after a deadly crash took place on Glacier Highway at Auke Lake. The white Chevrolet pickup that was reported to have lost control was occupied by three males. Two males were believed to have been thrown from the vehicle, and one has been confirmed as deceased. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
According to CCFR Assistant Chief Ed Quinto, a couple, who were driving in the opposite direction of the truck, witnessed the vehicle lose control, crash into the guard rail and flip several times before landing in the water.
“When we got there we didn’t see the vehicle but we did find bubbles in the water and debris all over the place,” Quinto said.
Quinto said after being notified of the crash, CCFR officials took a rescue boat out on the water, scoured the shoreline, checked the water for debris and searched for the unaccounted for occupant of the vehicle, who was later found deceased.
• Contact reporter Jonson Kuhn at jonson.kuhn@juneauempire.com. Reporter Clarise Larson, who can be contacted at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com, contributed reporting to this article.
