Body found at harbor downtown

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

The body of a man was discovered yesterday in the water downtown.

According to the Kodiak Police Department, dispatch received a call a little after 4 p.m. reporting that a body had been spotted under a dock at St. Paul Harbor.

Chief Jim Mullican with the Kodiak Fire Department said his crew and the Kodiak Police Department responded to the scene.

“[The] Kodiak Police Department retrieved the body out of the water and with the assistance of the Kodiak harbor department we were able to move the body over to another dock to make it easier to retrieve it to get it up to police and mortuary services.”

Sergeant Francis De La Fuente with the Kodiak Police Department says they’ve since identified the deceased as 49-year-old Jose Velasco. He says he was familiar with Velasco.

“Jose has been with us for what I remember more than eight years. Of course, he gets a little bit of trespassing now and then, but he was never a big issue other than being homeless downtown. All the members of the Kodiak Police Department and fire department know him. We’re fond of Jose. It’s unfortunate that this happened.”

According to De La Fuente, Valesco’s relatives have been informed and an investigation is in process.

He says there were “no signs of foul play.”