Homeless man’s friends hoping to give Mr. Charlie a final resting place

More than a week after a north Macon homeless man was killed crossing Tom Hill Sr. Blvd., no one has claimed his body.

Charles Ray Brown may not have any family members, but he has dozens of friends.

Walthall convenience store employee India Dennard has known “Mr. Charlie” for about 20 years.

When she was growing up in south Macon, she’d see him around Rocky Creek Road.

In more recent years, he started spinning his dusty beard into dreadlocks, she said.

Dennard thinks he once served in the military, and had heard he began living on the streets when he lost his wife.

“Everybody never knew him as anything but Charlie,” Dennard said Friday morning as customers came in for a hot cup of coffee.

For more than a decade, he’s been a regular at the fast food restaurants that line that stretch of road on the west side of Interstate 75 at Arkwright Road.

At the Walthall cash register, a cardboard box seeks “Contributions for Charlie’s burial expenses.”

Close to $500 has come in, but nearly three times that amount is needed for a funeral home to cremate his remains, Dennard said.

Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones has asked assistant county attorney Jansen Head to petition the court to allow for Brown’s cremation.

“It’s always hard when people don’t have a will, or the family doesn’t want to take part in the process,” Head said.

It is not yet clear what will happen to his remains.

Dennard thought about sprinkling them around his favorite haunts, but fears a family member may surface later.

In recent years, Jones has struggled with locating next of kin for dozens of people who die alone.

Head is hoping the Georgia legislature will address what appears to be a growing problem of unclaimed remains.

Brown’s friends want to appropriately honor his memory.

In the wake of Brown’s death, his regular breakfast buddy at Burger King, Rebecca Winkel, is continuing to learn how many lives he touched.

“He was never idle. He was always working to help people,” said Winkel, who is organizing a candlelight memory walk Sunday night at 8 p.m.

People are asked to meet in the parking lot of the Burger King on Riverside Drive, north of Arkwright Road.

It’s the same lot where Brown would walk out to Winkel’s car and visit her dog.

“He loved my dog and would come and talk to her through the window,” she said.

He didn’t speak much about himself, and shunned having his picture taken.

The only photo friends could find was a dark screen shot from a surveillance camera.

“It was always about the other person,” Winkel said. “He made me feel like I was the most special person in the world.”

A few days after his death, Winkel was telling a friend at church about her loss.

She was amazed that they were mutually acquainted.

“Charlie and I were best friends,” the lady told her. “We met everyday for breakfast at the Dunkin’ Donuts.”

Brown was hit by a car just before 11:40 p.m. May 25 as he was crossing the street near the donut shop.

After a case of mistaken identity, authorities discovered his true identity a couple days later.

Dennard said someone has offered to purchase a headstone.

Coroner Jones said he’s been approached by someone offering a burial spot, but nothing was settled as of Friday.

Brown didn’t have any identification on him when he died, so Dennard went looking to find his stash of personal items.

She thought there might be a clue that could lead to his family, but learned someone had thrown his bags away when he didn’t return.

“It’s sad,” Head said. “No matter the situation is, that’s somebody’s friend or colleague. It’s someone’s loved one.”

This story was originally published June 2, 2017 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Homeless man’s friends hoping to give Mr. Charlie a final resting place."