Mistaking antifreeze for alcohol a fatal error - EMMONAK Woman, 51, dies; 45-year-old man is hospitalized in Anchorage

An Emmonak resident died and her boyfriend was sickened on New Year's Eve after mistakenly drinking antifreeze that they thought was home brew, according to Alaska State Troopers.

The antifreeze, which is toxic, was stored for unknown reasons in a soda pop bottle, Trooper Teague Widmier said Monday from Bethel.

Emmonak is a dry village almost 500 miles from Anchorage at the mouth of the Yukon River.

Both Thelma Immamak, 51, and Franklin Murphy, 45, had been drinking home brew and thought what was in the soda bottle was just more of the same, Widmier said. Murphy found Immamak dead about 3:10 p.m. on Sunday. Troopers based in Emmonak investigated and didn't find anything criminal, Widmier said from Bethel.

"(The victims) didn't know at the time that's what they were drinking," the trooper said. "They thought it was home brew. It was in a container other than an antifreeze container."

Murphy was able to talk to troopers and told them that he had taken just a couple of sips of what was in the bottle but Immamak had drunk a bit more.

They wouldn't have knowingly drunk antifreeze, Widmier said.

"Oh no. They know that antifreeze will kill them," he said. But, he added, "they were pretty drunk and were drinking anything that was liquid."

Murphy was medevacked to Anchorage. Efforts to get an updated condition for him on Monday were unsuccessful.

Widmier said he remembers from trooper training that antifreeze has a sweet taste and isn't something you'd immediately spit out. According to information on an online service of the National Institutes of Health, ingesting antifreeze can kill a person in 24 hours and also can cause brain damage or blindness.