Deundray Cottrell, 31, traveled from Atlanta to Birmingham for Fourth of July 2024 and was at a family gathering in the South East Lake area when he disappeared on the evening of July 4. Family members say he went outside during fireworks to check on his dog and did not return; a shoe and his cellphone were later found outside the house. Residential surveillance footage recovered by relatives showed Cottrell moving quickly through yards and climbing a fence, which his sister described as appearing to show him trying to find refuge or escape.

Birmingham officers opened a missing-person investigation that night; detectives later recovered clothing and more neighborhood footage. On July 6 officers found Cottrell’s body inside a detached shed behind an abandoned residence a short distance from the family home. The Jefferson County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide, and later reports indicated the cause was asphyxiation or strangulation rather than a gunshot wound. Police identified Julian Taylor Morris as someone believed to have been among the last to see Cottrell and sought him for questioning; the family publicly raised concerns about Morris’s accounts and actions after the disappearance.

If anyone knew Deundray, saw him the night of July 4, or has information about the shed behind the abandoned home near 5th Avenue South, please share what is known with investigators.