Neighborhood Dog Finds Skull, Authorities Identify Remains as Missing Man

Human remains found by a family dog in Alabama on four separate occasions were finally identified as belonging to a man who disappeared last February.

In an email to PEOPLE earlier this month, the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office confirmed that the deceased man has been identified as Curtis Taylor, Jr., 25, of Center Point, Ala. 

“All the skeletal remains recovered in this case have been found to originate from the same source (person) and have been positively identified by dental and DNA comparison.” the coroner said.

The coroner’s office said that Taylor, who was visually impaired, was last seen alive by his family on Feb. 6, 2024, at a family residence in the 1300 block of 5th Place NW in Center Point. Relatives reported Taylor missing two weeks later to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. 

“Mr. Taylor’s family residence is also the same property where, on 8/8/2025, a larger collection of skeletal remains was discovered within a small patch of woods at the rear of the property,” the coroner’s office stated. 

Initially ruled a homicide due to a gunshot wound when the first set of human remains — a skull — was found back in 2024, police confirm to PEOPLE that an investigation is ongoing and the case has not been classified as a homicide at this time.

When reached for additional comment, a spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation is ongoing and there were no updates to share.

The mystery began on Aug. 20, 2024, when Paulina Mejía’s husband — who has since been deported, according to NBC affiliate WVTM  — spotted the family’s two dogs playing with a skull on the roadway next to their home, according to AL.com.

“My husband was like, ‘This does not look right,’ ” Mejia told the outlet.

“He called the police,” she added, but said that “they didn’t believe it was human remains until detectives came out here.”

An analysis of the skull resulted in a full DNA profile, but it didn’t yield a match to any known person in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). 

Then, in December 2024, one of the dogs made another grim discovery, returning with a human tibia, which forensic testing confirmed belonged to the same person as the skull, AL.com, WVTM-13 and WBRC reported. 

On April 10 of this year, the dog was found with another bone — a femur this time — in the yard, and a search of the property also turned up a human mandible, or jawbone, that also belonged to the same victim.

Finally, on Aug. 9, deputies responded after the dog once again brought home what appeared to be part of a human skeleton. Investigators also searched a nearby wooded area, which is where they found additional remains, according to WVTM.

Authorities stated the family residence where Taylor lived is located across the street from the property where the skull was found on Aug. 20, 2024.

Speaking with WTVM, Mejia said that since the last skeletal remains were found, that dog was killed by a car.

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In an interview with AL.com published in March 2024, Taylor’s mother, Kathy Gregory, said her son was going to spend time with his dad prior to his disappearance. She reported him missing when she learned that he wasn’t at his dad’s place after not hearing from him in two weeks.

She also told the outlet that her son’s phone was turned off and went to voicemail. 

Taylor, who had glaucoma and attended the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind, according to ABC affiliate WBMA. One of his teachers remembered him as a young man “that so many people loved.”

“He wouldn’t ever hang out with anybody that was gonna hurt somebody, he wouldn’t hurt anybody and that’s what has made this so hard because who would have wanted to hurt Curtis?” added Tabitha Royal.