Jefferson County Investigators Search for Families of Five Recently Deceased Residents
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office is appealing to the public for help identifying relatives or people with knowledge of the families of four men and one woman who died recently.
First Deaths Occurred at Healthcare Facilities in October
The earliest of the five deaths occurred on October 8, when 85-year-old Barbara Carlton passed away from natural causes. Carlton was a tenant at Civic Center Health & Rehabilitation and a patient of Adoration Hospice. Her caregivers reported no listed family contacts, and subsequent attempts by officials to locate relatives have been unsuccessful. No photograph is available.
Days later, on October 21, 83-year-old Henry King died of natural causes at Arlington Health & Rehabilitation while under the care of Pro Health Hospice. County records show that in 2024, King listed a home address in the 3900 block of Walnut Avenue SW in Birmingham.
Clarence Wallace McCoo, 81, died on October 23 at Princeton Baptist Medical Center from natural causes. McCoo had lived in a private apartment in the 2200 block of 6th Avenue North in Birmingham since at least 2008, yet investigators found no listed family contacts upon his passing.
Ronnie Dewayne Bailey, 61, was experiencing homelessness in Birmingham. He was found unresponsive on October 29 in the yard of a private residence on 34th Street North in Birmingham. Investigators found no evidence of trauma or foul play, and his exact cause of death remains pending. Bailey had listed an address at 1501 3rd Avenue North in Birmingham in 2012, and he had ties to Roanoke in Randolph County between 1995 and 2007.
The most recent case involves William Eugene Bennett, 74, who died of natural causes on October 31 at Princeton Baptist Medical Center. Bennett was a tenant at Princeton Towers and a patient of Southern Care Hospice. In 2022, he had listed a home address at 626 2nd Avenue North in Birmingham.
How to Assist the Coroner’s Office
The Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office asks that anyone who is related to these individuals, or who has information that could help locate their families, call the office directly at 205-930-3603.
