11 A.M. WEDNESDAY UPDATE:
Anchorage police on Wednesday revealed the names of two men discovered dead Sunday in an apparent double homicide in Mountain View.
The victims were Gary Erwin, 67, and Melvin Kosbruk, 38, according to a statement from the police department. The men were longtime roommates at the apartment, police said.
Police have said little about the investigation and have not named a suspect in the killings.
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ORIGINAL STORY:
Anchorage police are investigating an apparent double homicide discovered Sunday afternoon in a Mountain View apartment.
Police said two men were found dead by their landlord at about 3 p.m. in a 10-unit building at 524 Irwin St. A family member had called and asked someone to check on one or both of the tenants, according to a statement from the Anchorage Police Department.
Neighbors told the Daily News they did not hear any gunshots and knew of only two men living at the apartment. They did not know the relationship between the men.
On Monday, police were saying almost nothing about the investigation. Detectives had not positively identified the victims as of Monday afternoon but believe them to be tenants of the apartment, said spokeswoman Dani Myren.
Myren would not say how the men appeared to have been killed. Detectives are investigating the case as a double homicide rather than a murder-suicide, she said. She wouldn't say what led police to believe both men were murdered.
Neighbors said the men lived in a ground-floor apartment. "People was coming in and out all the time," said a neighbor, Mary Stricklin. They were living there when she moved in about a year ago, she said.
The unit was padlocked and quiet Monday. Police swarmed the building Sunday but had cleared out earlier in the day Monday, residents said.
Another neighbor, who refused to give her name, said the two men lived in the apartments longer than any of their neighbors. "The older gentleman was very nice and polite. I never had a problem with him," she said.
The younger man asked her where he could buy drugs when she first moved in, she said.
Police had knocked on the woman's door Sunday morning and asked for the landlord's phone number, she said. Police told her they wanted to check on the tenants in the apartment, but were unable to because door was locked, she said.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about the deaths to call the police department at 786-8900 or to give an anonymous tip, eligible for a cash reward, by calling Crime Stoppers 561-STOP.
Twitter updates: twitter.com/adn_kylehopkins. Call Kyle Hopkins at 257-4334 or email him at khopkins@adn.com.
By KYLE HOPKINS