BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- When the Jefferson County Coroner's Office is unable to find relatives of the deceased, they are buried at the Jefferson County Cemetery.
There is one veteran whose public notice of death led to him being buried in a place of honor. The public's help, however, is still needed to solve the mystery of his death.
He survived the forgotten war in North Korea and fought in Vietnam. His headstone at Arlington National Cemetery tells that part of the life story of U.S. Army Maj. John Howard Logan.
What it does not say is during the last year of his life at 84 years old, Logan fell victim to a homicide in Crestwood. The recorded date: April 16, 2015. That's where the mystery about Logan starts, just up the street in this historic Birmingham neighborhood on Cresthill Road.
"I was proud that I lived next door to a veteran," Mary Ellen Janik said.
Janik said Logan didn't own a car and that he walked everywhere. It wasn't unusual not to see him.
"There were sometimes I only saw him twice a year," Janik said. "The last time I saw him, he had a fall or some kind of accident when he was traveling, so he was on a walker."
"That was the last time I knew of him," Janik continued. "Then winter came."
Months went by before the discovery of his body in April 2015. Although Logan's body was found that spring, it's unclear how long he'd been dead inside his house.
"The condition of his remains were consistent with him being last seen towards the end of the previous year," said Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates. "They were partially skeletonized, partially mummified, which also made it more difficult to find him in the residence."
Janik regrets not realizing Logan was missing sooner.
"January was the first time when that gentleman came in the driveway and asked if I had seen him recently because they had plans to go to dinner, and he couldn't reach John, and that's when that started it all," Janik said.
"It wasn't unusual for him to take trips," Janik continued. "He never really talked about it that much. I did know he did a trip to Europe."
Winter turned to spring -- and still no signs of Logan.
"You all called police because you began to smell an odor?"
"It was March or April," Janik said. "They finally went into the house because the odor became so bad."
Det. Jonathan Ross is a cold case investigator with the Birmingham Police Department. He said the police and fire departments went inside the house to investigate.
"After an hour or couple hours had passed, they finally found the victim," Ross said. "He lived alone, and he was a hoarder, and that's why it took them so long to find the body."
"He had been shot multiple times in his torso," Yates said. "So from that, we determined his death was due to a homicide."
A homicide that still stands out to Yates because of what happened. A public notification to find next of kin turned up results Yates said fairly quickly.
Logan's case ended up in the Jefferson County Probate Court in the care of county administrator Elizabeth McElroy, who settled his estate. But Logan's body remained at the Jefferson County Coroner's Office for 10 months, and then he reached his final resting place.
During those months, Yates said the mystery deepened.
"We started getting phone calls from the public about Mr. Logan but were coming from across the pond in Europe," Yates said. "We find out he had two or three friends/past co-workers, individuals who had worked with him in the military. I believe after the military, he might have done some other type of government work. From my understanding, he was fluent in multiple languages."
But police believe somebody here in the county that Logan fought for killed him in cold blood.
"I'm believing that whoever committed this homicide against Mr. John, he knew him or knew her or somebody that was in his home that he felt comfortable with or did at the time due to the fact the door was locked and had to be breached," Ross said.
For Birmingham police, Logan's cold case is not a forgotten case. Ross said he believes someone saw something that can help. Those with information on Logan's death are urged to call the BPD Cold Case Unit at 205-297-8479 or its homicide unit at 205-254-1764.