NEW LONDON, Conn. — Connecticut’s medical examiner says the women’s basketball coach at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy committed suicide in his car.
NEW LONDON, Conn. — Connecticut’s medical examiner says the women’s basketball coach at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy committed suicide in his car. Coast Guard officials say the body of 52-year-old Alex Simonka, of Ledyard, was found Saturday night. The medical examiner said Monday that Simonka’s death was caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Simonka graduated from the academy in 1979 and retired from active duty in 1999. He had been the women’s basketball coach at the Division III school for the last 16 years. He also was the athletics business manager. Investigators say Simonka was scheduled to visit family in New Jersey this weekend. When he didn’t show up, his family called the academy in New London. That’s when officials found his body in his car. ______ Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.