A former Kenai city manager died Sunday of injuries he sustained when he wrecked his motorcycle earlier that day on the Dalton Highway.
Alaska State Troopers say 60-year-old Ricky Koch was pronounced dead by medics who’d flown to Livengood.
According to a Trooper report posted Monday morning, Koch was riding with several friends when he lost control and wrecked at mile 39, near the Hess Creek bridge about 15 miles south of the Yukon River.
Koch’s friends brought him to Livengood, about 50 miles north of Fairbanks, where they were able to contact a resident by phone to call for help.
Koch served as Kenai’s city manager for 10 years until he left the office last year for an unsuccessful run at the Legislature.
Troopers say Koch not wearing a helmet when he crashed. A trooper spokeswoman says an autopsy will be conducted in the near future.
This was the second motorcycle-related death of a prominent Alaskan official in recent weeks. On June 11, former Fairbanks district attorney Michael Gray died after crashing his motorcycle in Canada — while driving from Alaska to a family gathering in Montana.
Tim Ellis is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
