Anchorage

Man found dead in parking lot at the Alaska Zoo

A man was found dead Monday morning in a parking lot at the Alaska Zoo on O'Malley Road, Anchorage police said.

Dispatchers received a report of a body found at the zoo at 7:45 a.m., APD said in an alert.

Officers found the body in the zoo's lower parking lot. Police warned of a "large police presence at the zoo as detectives investigate."

The zoo will be closed during the investigation, director Pat Lampi said in an emailed statement.

"We are unable to speculate as to what may have happened. … The zoo can confirm that no animals were involved in this incident," Lampi said.

Police are not saying whether the death is considered suspicious.

The body was at least partially frozen when officers arrived, said APD spokesman MJ Thim. Temperatures in Anchorage overnight dipped under 10 degrees.

The body will be taken to the medical examiner, where a cause of death determination will be made, Thim said.

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.

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