KPD Seeks Next-of-Kin for Man Found Dead

Police have been unable to locate family for 76-year-old Bernard Addison, who was found dead of natural causes in his Knoxville apartment.

Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Accidents

KPD Seeks Next-of-Kin for Man Found Dead

The Knoxville Police Department is seeking next-of-kin for Bernard Addison, 76, who was found dead of natural causes in his apartment on Whittle Springs Road on Monday. Detectives say exhaustive efforts have not located any family.

Why it matters

Unclaimed remains can remain at the Knox County Regional Forensic Center when families cannot be found or cannot afford funeral or cremation costs. Public requests for help are one of the few tools investigators have when database searches fail.

Addison was found dead on Monday and KPD is actively requesting public help to locate next-of-kin after exhaustive database and investigative efforts failed. No next-of-kin has been identified, and the case remains open for family notification.

The players

Knoxville Police Department

The municipal police agency responsible for investigating deaths in the city and seeking families of unclaimed decedents.

Unclaimed Persons

An online group of genealogical researchers that volunteers to identify and locate next-of-kin for unclaimed remains, having solved 619 cases as of March 2024.

The details

Addison, originally from Memphis, moved to Knoxville to attend college. KPD uses law enforcement databases and open-source information to locate relatives, and asks the public for help when those methods fall short.

Monday: Addison was found dead in his apartment on Whittle Springs Road.
March: KPD requested help finding next-of-kin for Brian Forbes, who was located about 30 hours later.
February 2025: Brian Forbes died at a home on Kingsmore Drive.

Legal Context

Knoxville's unclaimed-remains backlog mirrors a wider pattern in which volunteer genealogists such as Unclaimed Persons have solved hundreds of cases that police databases could not. The Knox County unclaimed list of roughly 520 names shows how many decedents remain without families to claim them.

Residents who know of relatives of Bernard Addison are asked to contact the Knoxville Police Department. Anyone with information on unclaimed decedents can help families be notified and remains released.

The takeaway

Families who lose touch with relatives can make it easier for authorities to notify them by keeping contact information current with trusted people. Public tips, even small ones, can determine whether an unclaimed death is resolved.