Body discovered near popular Anchorage trailhead; police investigating as potential homicide

A body found Wednesday by a person walking near Campbell Airstrip Road is now being investigated as a homicide, Anchorage police said.

Officers were called to the 7800 block of the road around 11:10 a.m., the department said. Just before 5 p.m., spokeswoman Cherie Zajdzinski said the death was being investigated as a homicide. No arrests were made by that time, she wrote in an email.

Five police vehicles and the department’s mobile forensic lab were parked alongside a wooded section of the road past Campbell Airstrip Trailhead around 2 p.m. Several officers at the scene were armed with rifles. Bears are common in the area.

Campbell Airstrip Road cuts through Far North Bicentennial Park and connects to several popular trailheads.

Few details were immediately available about the circumstances surrounding the death. The investigation was ongoing, Zajdzinski said.

The victim will be publicly identified after their next of kin have been notified, police said. They urged anyone with information about the incident to call dispatch at 311 or 907-786-8900.