foul play not likely

By MICHELLE WILSON

Staff Writer

Published Oct. 20, 1999

A homeless man was found dead Tuesday behind Troy’s OCAP building where he had gone many times for help.

Frank Lee Walker, 45, died of natural causes, said Pike County Coroner Jerry Williams.

He was found by a passerby in an old bus where he had apparently been living, Williams said.

OCAP (Organized Community Action Program) assists citizens with paying power bills, finding housing and other necessities, said the agency’s Executive Director Gene M. Schroeder.

Walker had been an OCAP client since 1995, but had not asked for assistance from the agency since February of this year, Shroeder said.

"It is alarming that this happened," Schroeder said. "We are here to help people in the community and wish he had come in."

Sgt. Benny Scarbrough, public information officer with the Troy Police Department, said officers responded after they received a report at about 10 a.m. that a body had apparently been found in a school bus parked behind OCAP offices.

The bus was used to transport OCAP’s Head Start students but is no longer being used, Schroeder said.

The man had been reported missing.

Scarbrough said, "We do not suspect foul play. This individual was reported missing Monday."

Walker was last seen around noon Thursday, Williams said.

The cause of his death is still under investigation by the Alabama Department of Forensic Science, Dothan office.