The Alaska State Troopers, utilizing a Coast Guard safe boat, traveled to Whisky Cove across the channel from Ketchikan on Monday to investigate a report of a deceased male on the beach there.

The call went in to the Alaska State troopers at 8:13 am on Monday. When troopers arrived to investigate, they found 44-year-old Ketchikan resident David J. Knapp partially submerged and tangled in an outfall line close to his residence.

The trooper investigation led the troopers to believe that Knapp fell to the rocks below and drowned after attempting to adjust the outfall line.

According to the Trooper dispatch, the Wrangell Police Department assisted in notifying next of kin.

Knapp’s body will be sent to the State Medical Examiner in Anchorage for autopsy, although no foul play is suspected in Knapp’s death.