Athens-Clarke coroner locates family of man who died more than week ago

Athens-Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson said Thursday that he has been able to locate next of kin for a man who was found dead about a week ago in the North Oconee River Park in Athens.

A family member notified him after hearing about the death on Facebook of 61-year-old Harold Dean McCannon. Wilson learned that McCannon has a sister in Crawford and another sister in Warrenton.

“I explained to her we had called a lot of folks, but their names had never come up,” Wilson said.

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Wilson initially had trouble locating next of kin for the deceased man.

The body was found by an Athens-Clarke County employee on Nov. 22 in the park located off Willow Street and along the North Oconee River, according to an Athens-Clarke police report.

McCannon, who was homeless, did not have any information on him regarding family and Wilson said he only found one contact name, a woman in Greenville, N.C., whom he could not locate.

A police officer responding to the scene reported finding a syringe in the deceased man’s hand. The officer also noted there appeared to be no sign of a struggle.

The body was sent for an autopsy to determine the cause of death, but Wilson said he did not suspect foul play.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Coroner locates family members of homeless man found in Athens park.