Troopers were notified of a death in Mountain Village on Monday. When they responded, they found that a Mountain Village woman had died in her sleep.

Their investigation into the death of 57-year-old Mountain Village resident Ramona Rose Waskey found that she had consumed too much homebrew the night before and had aspirated her stomach contents causing her to choke to death in her sleep.

Homebrew manufacturing in Mountain Village is prevalent, as it is in other communities throughout the area. Mountain Village is a dry community, meaning that there can be no bars or liquor stores and importation of alcohol is prohibited as well. The community of approximately 755 people located on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta voted itself dry in 1984.

Residents of dry communities work around the prohibition by smuggling in alcohol or manufacturing it themselves.

Although troopers do not suspect foul play, Waskey’s remains were transported to the State Medical Examiner’s office in Anchorage for autopsy.