Air Force officials not releasing details on death

Air Force officials have still not released information about the Oct. 29 death of 20-year-old Kimberly Susan Novak.

Joseph Bollman of Detroit said Air Force officials are even being “pretty tight-lipped” with family members who’ve asked about the death of his niece.

Bollman said he doesn’t know how or why his niece died, but said: “Those things don’t just happen for nothing at an Air Force base; it’s an enclosed facility ...”

Capt. Andre Kok of Cannon’s public affairs office has said only that the death is being investigated. He’s offered no additional details. Other officials at Cannon have referred all inquiries to the public affairs office.

Novak’s husband Edward Novak II is enlisted and stationed at Cannon.

Investigators at the Office of the Medical Investigator have yet to receive a death certificate on Novak, something Russell Muffley of Muffley Funeral Home said is not uncommon if a death is being investigated. Muffley said it can take up to five months to receive a death certificate.

Muffley said there were no marks on Novak’s body when it was sent to the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator for an autopsy and toxicology report.

OMI officials said they will release autopsy reports when they’re complete.