A 34-year-old Juneau man was found dead on Sunday (5-18-14) in Tenakee Springs, after his ATV apparently flipped while he was riding on the beach. James Russell Vavalis was found near Graveyard Point, about a quarter mile east of town, according to a release from the Alaska State Troopers.
Troopers received a report of Vavalis’s death at 9:15 a.m. Sunday.
Vavalis was visiting Tenakee Springs for the weekend to help family members work on a cabin, according to Trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen. He was last seen alive at around 11:30 p.m. Saturday. Troopers believe that he wrecked the ATV that night, Ipsen said. He was found the following morning by his uncle.
Troopers are unsure exactly how Vavalis died, though there were quite a few rocks in the immediate area, Ipsen said, and Vavalis was not wearing a helmet. Ipsen said that both Vavalis and the ATV were at least partially submerged by the tide, which may have wiped away other evidence of how the accident occurred.
Vavalis’s body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage for an autopsy.
