Authorities say the 25-year-old was legally blind; a neighbor’s dog repeatedly brought bones that led to his identification.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — The Jefferson County Coroner has identified skeletal remains as those of Curtis Taylor Jr., a 25-year-old from Center Point whose case began in 2024 when a neighbor’s dog carried home a human skull. Investigators now classify the death as a homicide and say the inquiry is ongoing.
Officials said Taylor was last seen by family on Feb. 6, 2024, and reported missing two weeks later. The first remains surfaced Aug. 20, 2024, setting off a series of discoveries over the next year near the family’s street in Center Point. The identification, announced Thursday, followed DNA and dental comparisons. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has taken the lead in the investigation after earlier work by Birmingham police. No arrests have been announced. The case has drawn attention because of how it unfolded and because Taylor, who was visually impaired, was well known at his former school and in his neighborhood.
According to authorities, a homeowner on the 1300 block of 5th Place NW found a skull on the roadside on Aug. 20, 2024, believed to have been moved there by her dog. An autopsy later showed a gunshot wound to the skull. In December 2024, the same household reported a long bone brought to the yard, later determined to be a left tibia from the same person. Through early 2025, investigators searched nearby vacant houses and canvassed the area. By spring, another bone was recovered. On Aug. 8, 2025, a coordinated K-9 search in a small patch of woods behind the Taylor family’s residence located additional remains. “To know that this young man that I had known and watched and so many people loved, and his remains were brought up by a dog … it broke my soul,” said Tabitha Royal, who worked with Taylor when he was a student.
Officials have described the timeline publicly but have released limited specifics about where the killing occurred or who might be responsible. The coroner’s office said the remains recovered in 2024 and 2025 were from the same person, and that DNA and dental analysis confirmed Taylor’s identity on Dec. 4, 2025. Investigators placed a GPS tracker on a neighborhood dog in 2025 to map its roaming pattern while searching for additional bones, which were later found during human-led searches of nearby woods. The Sheriff’s Office said the death is a homicide because of evidence of a gunshot wound, but investigators have not disclosed a suspected motive, weapon recovery, or whether Taylor was killed at the location where remains were ultimately found. The agency declined a formal interview, citing the open investigation.
Taylor’s family reported him missing on Feb. 21, 2024, after he failed to return home. Records show he lived with significant visual impairment, including glaucoma, and graduated from the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind in 2017. Friends and former staff described him as gentle, eager to help, and proud of his independence navigating familiar routes near home. The street where remains were found sits across from his family’s residence, underscoring how the search stayed close to where he was last seen. In the months after the skull was discovered, deputies checked nearby properties and reviewed doorbell camera footage. The case moved from city police to the Sheriff’s Office as jurisdiction narrowed to unincorporated county areas, and as the remains were conclusively tied to Taylor.
With identification complete, the procedural focus now shifts to building a prosecutable case. Detectives are reconstructing Taylor’s final known movements in early February 2024 and comparing those to calls for service and neighborhood activity logs from that period. Evidence reviews are ongoing, including ballistics related to the gunshot wound to the skull and forensic examinations of soil and plant material collected where bones were recovered. If investigators file charges, the case would move to Jefferson County District Court for an initial appearance before any grand jury consideration. As of Saturday, authorities had not announced a person of interest. The Sheriff’s Office has not released dates for additional briefings.
Neighbors who saw the area searched over the past year say the discovery has changed the feel of the block. The dog’s owner, who first reported the skull, said the sequence of finds was unsettling, even as it pointed investigators to the truth. “I’m glad he was able to be identified,” she said, noting the neighborhood’s mix of relief and lingering worry. Royal, the former school staffer, called Taylor a “big teddy bear” and said she hopes the confirmation brings his loved ones some measure of peace. Residents described a steady law-enforcement presence during late-summer searches and expressed frustration that answers have been slow to come.
Authorities say the case remains active, with the next updates likely to come as detectives complete forensic reviews and track tips. As of Dec. 6, 2025, investigators had not named a suspect or released a detailed reconstruction of Taylor’s last hours. Additional public records or court filings, if charges are brought, would offer the first formal account of what happened and when.
Author note: Last updated December 6, 2025.