Family's $9 million lawsuit alleges Central City Concern held dead body of tenant for 2 months

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A local family is suing Central City Concern and Multnomah County for $9 million in damages.

The complaint comes after the family alleged the non-profit failed to perform daily check-ins on their son, whose body was discovered two months after they were denied access to him, as first reported by The Oregonian.

KOIN 6 News spoke briefly with the family. However, they understandably said it is too painful a time to go on camera or do a sit-down interview to talk about it right now. 

In a statement, the family described 33-year-old Brendan Mackey as funny, caring and loving. The Mackeys said had they known Brendan living at Central City Concern meant they could no longer have access to him, he would have never been there. 

The family said Brendan entered Central City Concern’s transitional housing at the Shoreline building on Dec. 22, 2023. They were all hopeful it would be a fresh start but it turned into what they described as a “nightmare.”  

Brendan was referred to CCC by Multnomah County following his release from custody to supervised parole for a charge of unlawful use of a weapon. The family’s complaint said Brendan’s father, Glen, wasn’t allowed to come up to his room or visit the facility. 

Despite this, the family said they saw Brendan each day through the holiday. However, from Dec. 26. onward, the family said they lost contact with Brendan despite repeated calls to CCC staff, failed requests for welfare checks, texts to Brendan’s parole officer and even filing a missing persons report. 

The complaint claimed it wasn’t until a CCC staff member entered Brendan’s apartment on Feb. 28, 2024, to perform a smoke detector test that his decaying body was found. 

The family’s $9 million complaint against CCC and the county cited negligence and emotional distress. It said in part:

“Central City Concern held exclusive possession of Brendan Mackey's corpse for 64 continuous days.”

Brendan’s sister, Shannon Stott, received the first call from the medical examiner, two months after the family said they last saw him. She said in a statement, in part:

“Brendan was my little brother and best friend...Losing Brendan the way we did is a pain I have never experienced before. CCC took away my family's chance to say goodbye…I hope this nightmare does not happen to anyone else.”

According to the complaint, this is not the first time a resident has died at a CCC building after the non-profit failed to discover their remains. According to the lawsuit, prior to Brendan's death, "at least three other persons have died in a Central City Concern building and Central City Concern has failed to discover their remains prior to postmortem alteration, including Brandi Satterlee."

Tami Yeager, Satterlee's mother, told KOIN 6 her daughter died at CCC's Blackburn Center Apartments in June 2021 but wasn't discovered for at least two weeks after her death.

"She was working really hard to be well and to reunite with her family," Yeager said. "It was devastating knowing that your loved one's body laid there for that amount of time. That is such a sacred space that seems so grossly dishonored."

When asked what changes she hopes to see happen, Yeager said:

"Central City Concern is offering a service to people who are valuable and who matter to others. And they need to be treated with dignity and respect."

KOIN 6 reached out to Multnomah County and CCC for a response but neither is commenting on the pending litigation

Below are the full statements sent to KOIN 6 from Brendan's family.

From Brendan's sister, Shannon Stott:

"Brendan was my little brother and best friend. He was funny and caring and always went out of his way to check on me. He could make you smile no matter what mood you were in. Brendan brought so much joy to our family. He loved deeply and he was loved deeply. Losing Brendan the way we did is a pain I have never experienced before. CCC took away my family’s chance to say goodbye to Brendan. My family will never be the same without him. Brendan was an incredible person and he deserved to be treated with respect. I think of Brendan all the time. I hope this nightmare does not happen to anyone else."

Joint statement from Brendan's parents, Glen and Sally:

"We spent 5 wonderful days with Brendan over Christmas enjoying every single minute. His presence and those memories were a blessing to our family. Brendan was a valued member of our family and integral in our happiness. He would always tease everyone into a smile, or play with his nephews at their level, and would always tell us he loved us. We loved him and we think of him and miss him every day.

"Over Christmas Brendan expressed hopefulness at the opportunity to live at Central City Concern to help gain independence. Central City Concern states on their website that they “are ending homelessness by treating the whole person, as a person[.]” We trusted them to do this, and so did Brendan. The loss of Brendan is painful. The fact that Central City Concern kept his body for so long behind locked doors that only they could access, decayed beyond recognition, is unimaginable. This is a permanent part of Brendan’s story that could have been avoided had both Central City Concern or Multnomah County, who referred Brendan to housing at the Shoreline, treated Brendan as a whole person. Had we known that him living at Central City Concern meant that we could no longer have access to Brendan, even during an active missing person investigation, or to care for him in both life and death, he would never have been there. He would have stayed in our home with us. Our inability to find Brendan, to have someone check on him in the facility he was living, or to find cooperation in our desperate search for him is beyond our understanding."