As of noon Sunday, Dillingham Police had not labeled the death of Ella S. George, 55, a homicide. She was found deceased by a family friend around 5 p.m. Saturday evening at her daughter April Olson’s home on Cessna Drive, across from the Dillingham Bible Fellowship church.
Police say the family friend had been asked to check on George, as she was staying at the house alone and had not been reached since around 9 p.m. the night before. That man stopped by, found George unconscious, and reported it to police.
After confirming George was deceased, Dillingham police taped off the scene Saturday evening and waited for a warrant to reenter the home and begin an investigation. Officers canvassed the neighborhood and worked the scene until around 2 a.m. Sunday morning.
Investigators with the Alaska Bureau of Investigation and the state Crime Lab arrived on a flight from Anchorage early Sunday, and were on the scene by mid morning.
Rumors of the cause and circumstances of the death quickly swirled around town Saturday evening, in part due to an open page on the EMT channel relaying an unconfirmed, alleged cause of death. Dillingham Police Chief Dan Pasquariello was quick to bat the rumors away for now.
“We will wait on an autopsy and results from our investigation,” he said Sunday morning, while admitting that the circumstances are “suspicious.”
