Reply #87: Father of dead man also died homeless

[happy_liberal]

It's been nearly 13 years since a homeless man named Vernon Konukpeok was found dead near Ship Creek.

On Thursday, the body of his son, Vernon Konukpeok Jr., was discovered just after noon in a crude homeless camp nestled amid fallen brush just off one of South Anchorage's busiest intersections, according to city police.

Police say Konukpeok Jr., 39, had been sleeping at the camp, which is encircled by a Seward Highway on-ramp, with his cousin and a woman with whom he'd been known to panhandle. When the cousin woke up Thursday morning, he found Konukpeok dead.

There did not appear to be signs of foul play at the scene of the death just across from a Holiday gas station, police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said. The cause of death was under investigation.

Konukpeok's father was 44 years old when he was found dead in the Ship Creek area June 2, 1997, according to police. Details of his death were not immediately available Thursday, though his name was among those who at the time were added to Bean's Cafe's list of the "homeless or hungry" who died in Anchorage, according to a news report....

Six bodies have turned up in Anchorage parks or camps this spring. None of the deaths appear related or involved foul play, according to police. Twenty people have been found dead in Anchorage streets and parks since last May, most of them homeless or familiar with street life.


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Now, if stories like this found the same sort of attention as say...'OMG Sarah Palin wrote on her hand'...then maybe something will be done about it.

One way to help, look at what is going on in your community and make the local media aware of it. Ask them to cover the story of your local homeless, with pictures. So many people were affected by images of the oil spill(isn't it obvious why we don't see pictures of the war(s) anymore?)... we need more pictures of homeless camps, tent cities, real life stories of every day people, two income working families who still can't afford housing, people forced into bankruptcy due to medical bills, disabled people unable to get low income housing, single mothers kicked out on the street because their job was outsourced etc.

We have to teach the media how to do their jobs. If you see some stupid ass story about Sarah Palin, or Britney, or American Idol, or dancing with the stars for GOD's sake- don't click on it. Do not encourage them. Same goes for stupid ass threads on DU. Search for stories about poverty and the homeless and post them. Support others who do the same. We can at least do our part to raise the level of dialogue and intelligence on this board.