4th suicide in 3 weeks hits village

ANCHORAGE — A fourth young adult has killed himself in less than three weeks in a remote Alaska Native village, the latest in a tragic cycle in which each of the previous three deaths influenced the subsequent one, authorities said.

A 21-year-old man was found dead Saturday at his parent’s home in Hooper Bay, a village 530 miles west of Anchorage in a region with disproportionately high suicide rates, Alaska State Troopers said. The death follows three others that began Sept. 24 with the suicide of a 26-year-old man.

A 24-year-old man despondent over his friend’s death killed himself Oct. 2, followed two days later by the suicide of a 20-year-old woman reportedly distraught over the 24-year-old’s death.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

It was not immediately clear if the latest suicide was influenced by the others. Several local residents, including the village police chief and the mayor, declined to comment Monday.

Emma Smith, a new wellness coordinator hired by Sea Lion Corp., the village Native corporation, would only say that she cannot know the personal impact on each individual in the community. Asked if the 21-year-old was close to the others who took their lives, Smith said no one is a stranger to each other in the village.

“Everybody in this village knows everybody,” she said.

Mental health experts from tribal health organizations have traveled to the Yup’ik Eskimo community of nearly 1,200. An Alaska Native suicide response and prevention team from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. is heading to Hooper Bay this week for a community debriefing.

Christopher Byrnes, Yukon-Kuskokwim’s emergency services director, said the team’s size has been scaled down from plans developed last week at the request of village residents.

“The tribe has actually requested that we don’t have a big response team right now,” he said. “They want to focus on grieving and funerals.”

Alaska as a whole is consistently among U.S. states with the highest overall suicide rates, ranking second in 2013, according to the latest national statistics available. It led the nation in 2010.

In figures provided by the state, suicides among Alaska Natives between the ages of 20 and 29 occurred at nearly triple the overall rate for that age group in the state between 2003 and 2012.

• If you or someone you know is considering suicide there are resources available to seek help. Call to the Alaska Careline at (877) 266-4357 (HELP) or visit juneaumentalhealth.org to get connected with mental health information and resources.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of March 16

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

Research biologists pause among the wetlands of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain, with the Brooks Range in the background. The Trump administration is taking steps to offer the entire coastal plain for oil and gas leasing, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on Thursday. (Lisa Hupp/USFWS)
Interior secretary announces plans to advance new Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil leasing

Follow-ups to Trump executive orders will mean leasing across ANWR, wider NPR development.

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Storis near Tampa, Florida, on Dec. 10, 2024. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)
Storis icebreaker expected to make ceremonial visit to Juneau this summer, officials say

Coast Guard icebreaker set to be homeported locally will still need further upgrades for deployment.

The Columbia state ferry docks at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal on March 4. (Laurie Craig / For the Juneau Empire)
Alaska Marine Highway’s long-range plan met with skepticism and concerns

Residents decry loss of service, Murkowski says “once-in-a-generation” funding opportunity in peril.

Salmon dries on a traditional rack on the beach in the Seward Peninsula village of Teller on Sept. 2, 2021. Salmon is a dietary staple for Indigenous residents of Western Alaska, and poor runs have created hardship. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Bill would change the makeup of the Alaska Board of Fisheries

Would require commercial, sport and subsistence members, along with one representing scientists.

Sara Kveum speaks to the crowd rallying in front of the Alaska State Capitol, alongside Nikki Bass, both members of the Key Coalition of Alaska advocating for disability rights on March 19, 2025 (Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
‘We are done waiting!’ Advocates and supporters of Alaskans with disabilities rally at the Capitol

Participants focus on Medicaid, eliminating waitlists for support services, infant learning programs.

John Boyle, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (center left), sits with staff in the gallery of the Alaska House of Representatives as lawmakers debate the creation of a separate Alaska Department of Agriculture on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. Speaking is Rep. George Rauscher, R-Sutton. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska Legislature halts Dunleavy effort to create agriculture department

Legislators cancel executive order but say a bill to create the department is possible later this year.

A plane flies over the town after taking off from the dirt runway on Sept. 14, 2019, in Kivalina. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Possible Postal Service changes present challenge to Alaska Bypass Mail

Rural communities depend on service for food shipments.

Most Read