31-year-old Deundray Cottrell, who disappeared on July 4, was found dead in east Birmingham

A graduate student from Atlanta who had been missing in Birmingham since July 4 was found dead on Saturday.

The body of 31-year-old Deundray Cottrell was discovered at the corner of 78th Street and Fifth Avenue South. Police said they could not release any further information due to the ongoing investigation.

Officer Truman Fitzgerald said Cottrell’s death is not classified at this time, meaning it is not immediately clear how he died or whether a crime was committed.

Investigators are searching for Cottrell’s partner, with whom he was together for three years and was last seen on Friday morning.

Cottrell was last seen around 10 p.m. Thursday in the 7000 block of Fourth Avenue South.

His sister, Angelica Harris, said Cottrell and his partner arrived in Birmingham around 6pm on Thursday to celebrate the holiday. Her brother saw her new home, which she shares with her husband and children, for the first time.

Cottrell lives in Atlanta, where he worked in marketing and completed his PhD.

Around 10 p.m., Cottrell said he went upstairs to check on his dog because of the fireworks.

“He went and checked on the dog and I never saw him again,” Harris said.

The family then learned from his partner, Julian Morris, that he had left the house and run through the backyard, where they had indeed found some of his belongings, including one of his shoes and his mobile phone.

According to his family, Morris was behaving unpredictably and not in the way they had been used to from him over the past three years.

The family immediately began searching and eventually called the police to file a missing person report.

Harris said it was later learned that he had not been reported missing in the system until Friday morning.

Cottrell’s family searched for him day and night, but to no avail. They were able to find footage from Ring cameras in several homes that showed Cottrell running through gardens and even jumping over a gate.

“It looked like he was seeking refuge,” Harris said. “He was running for his life.”

Morris then possibly disappeared on Friday. Cottrell’s family saw Morris on Friday morning, but not again afterward.

Officer Truman Fitzgerald said officers found some clothing on Friday and a local resident provided surveillance footage of the person they believed to be Cottrell.

The family launched another search on Saturday, as did Birmingham police.

Shortly before 3 p.m., officers found Cottrell dead.

“The events leading to his disappearance are indeed suspicious,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said police are now looking for Morris to question because he was the last person to see Cottrell alive.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.