It was only after a Central City Concern staff member entered Brendan Mackey’s room for routine maintenance that his decaying body was found.
PORTLAND, Ore. — The family of Brendan Mackey is suing Central City Concern, one of Portland’s primary supportive housing providers, for negligence after it took two months for workers to check on his well-being — only to find his decomposed body in his room at the Shoreline Building transitional housing facility.
The 33-year-old was only found when a staff member entered the room for a routine smoke detector test, months after his parents and sister began attempting to reach him and asking the organization to perform a welfare check. The family is now suing Central City Concern and Multnomah County for $9 million in damages.
Mackey had entered Shoreline Building following his release from prison after serving a year for a conviction of unlawful use of a weapon with a knife. He was referred by the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice — the only way to get into the housing facility.
Central City Concern promoted the Shoreline Building as parole transition housing, complete with daily check-ins, building sign-in sheets and access to onsite and offsite support services.
Mackey’s father, Glen Mackey, first dropped him off at the Shorebird Building on Dec. 22, 2023. When they arrived, an apparent case manager for Mackey told his father that he was not allowed to accompany his son to his room. The lawsuit alleges that Glen Mackey was discouraged from visiting his son while he was at the Shoreline Building, according to court documents.
From then and until Christmas Day, Mackey’s father and mother would pick him up from the Shoreline Building around 7 a.m. to spend the day with him and would drop him off before his 11 p.m. curfew. When Mackey was dropped off the day after Christmas, it was the last time his family had contact with him, according to court documents.
For multiple weeks, Mackey’s family tried to get in contact with him, but had no response. They learned that he never showed to a scheduled medical appointment — which his family said in the lawsuit was “unusual” for him.
When Glen Mackey tried to get information from Central City Concern regarding his son’s daily check-ins or see if he had moved out the Shoreline Building, a staff member told him that “we don’t do that” and that Central City Concern “would not advise any person of Brendan’s status” — including his father, who was listed as the emergency contact, according to court documents.
For close to two months, the family called, sent text messages, and even attempted to reach Mackey through social media — but no response ever came. It wasn’t until a call from the Medical Examiner’s Office asking to identify Mackey’s remains that his family learned of his death.
According to court documents, the cause and time of Mackey’s death has yet to be determined because of “the state of decay” of his body. None of his belongings brought to Shoreline Building have also been returned to the family.
This is not the first time a tenant at one of Central City Concern’s buildings has died unnoticed for multiple weeks. In June 2021, Brandi Satterlee’s body was not discovered for at least two weeks after her death at the Blackburn Apartments.
After Satterlee’s death, Central City Concern said it was a learning experience and would make efforts to improve its process — but hasn’t identified what changes it made, the Oregonian reported.
Central City Concern senior director of public affairs Juliana Lukasik said the agency is unable to comment on legal matters.
