From The Tribune staff reports
BIRMINGHAM – The Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office is requesting the assistance of the public in locating family of the following five decedents who recently died in Jefferson County:
David Nelson Brown, 77, of Birmingham, was found unresponsive by Birmingham Police inside his private residence at the 1100 block of 52nd Street South, Birmingham, on March 1, 2023, at 11:04 a.m. According to Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates, police were performing a welfare check at the request of a concerned neighbor. Brown was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death was determined to be natural causes. All attempts to identify and locate family have failed.
Jean Wilson, 73, of Birmingham, was found by a friend unresponsive inside her private residence at the 8200 block of 3rd Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama 35206 on Feb. 2, 2023, at 1:56 p.m., and pronounced dead at the scene at 2:12 p.m. The cause of Wilson’s death is pending, with no evidence of trauma or foul play. All attempts to identify and locate family have failed. Reportedly, the decedent previously lived in Texas and moved to Birmingham approximately nine months ago.
Shari L. Hitman, 37, was found unresponsive inside a convenience store bathroom at the 2000 block of Green Springs Highway on Feb. 21, 2023, at 11:20 a.m. She was pronounced dead at UAB Hospital at 12:12 p.m. The cause of her death is pending, with no evidence of trauma or foul play. All attempts to identify and locate family have failed. According to records, the decedent is possibly from Virginia and might have family who once lived in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
Dylan Thomas Merck, 37, of Birmingham (homeless), was found unresponsive by a citizen laying on the ground underneath a bridge at 19th Street at 2nd Avenue North, Birmingham, on March 3, 2023, at 1:08 p.m. Merck was pronounced dead at Princeton Baptist Medical Center at 2:24 p.m. The cause of death is pending, with no evidence of trauma or foul play. All attempts to identify and locate family have failed. The decedent’s mother, Janice Merck, died in Plains, Georgia, in 2018. In 2018, the decedent’s father, Bryan Merk, was known to be living in a nursing home in Plains, Georgia, but he is no longer a resident of that nursing home.
Joyce A. Williams, 70, of Birmingham, died of natural causes on Feb. 26, 2023, at 5:51 p.m., while an inpatient at UAB Hospital. All attempts to identify and locate family have failed. The decedent was a tenant at North Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation. At age 16, the decedent lived in Florida.
If you are family or if you have knowledge of family of any of these decedents, please call the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office at 205-930-3603.