Missing Fisherman’s Body Found in Kodiak Harbor

Jay Barrett/KMXT

A body tentatively identified as a Homer fisherman missing since February was recovered from Kodiak’s St. Paul Harbor Friday night. 

Kodiak Police Chief Rhonda Wallace said Saturday that a preliminary identification indicates it is 27-year-old Mihay Kalugin, a crewman aboard the fishing vessel Competition, who disappeared six weeks ago. 

A Homer relative, Alexie Reutov, identified the deceased as Kalugin soon after Kodiak emergency responders pulled the body from the harbor. They are members of Homer’s Russian Old Believers community.

Kalugin was last seen in downtown Kodiak in the early morning hours of February 22nd, a Sunday. Reutov said he was told Kalugin was having a raucous Saturday night on the town between fishing trips and had gotten into a fight on the docks with three other men the night be disappeared. 

Kodiak Police officers told Reutov that Kalugin’s body would be sent to the State Medical Examiner office for positive identification and to determine the cause of death.