West Jefferson police have identified a 69-year-old man found dead in a wooded area off South Jefferson Avenue as Charles Ruland, after a welfare check request led officers to search for him following more than a day of him being reported missing. Police Chief Brad Jordan said investigators have not determined that alcohol, drugs, or foul play contributed to Ruland's death.
According to Ashe Post & Times, West Jefferson authorities received a welfare check request about Ruland from a concerned party, and West Jefferson Police Sergeant Michael Vido said that request prompted the search that ultimately led officers to the wooded area across from Backyard Convenience on South Jefferson Avenue. That business sits at 828 South Jefferson Avenue, according to federal food-safety records that document the address along the commercial strip running through the small mountain town.
Vido said Ruland did not have a permanent address, though authorities knew approximately where he had been staying before he went missing. Jordan, who leads the town's police force, identified Ruland as the man authorities found in the woods after he had been missing for more than a day.
A Death That Triggers Mandatory State Review
Because Ruland's death occurred outdoors and unattended by a physician, North Carolina law requires it to be reported to and investigated by the county medical examiner regardless of whether investigators suspect foul play. Under North Carolina General Statute § 130A-383, any death occurring suddenly, unexpectedly, or under unusual circumstances outside a clinical setting must go through that formal review process.
Unlike states where independent county coroners handle such cases, North Carolina channels all of these investigations through a single state agency. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that the state's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, housed within the Department of Health and Human Services, oversees county medical examiners who conduct the autopsies and toxicology reviews that ultimately determine an official cause of death. That process remains pending in Ruland's case, and Jordan's comments so far have only ruled out certain contributing factors rather than confirmed a cause.
Long-Time Local Presence, Records Show
Public court records indicate a Charles Ruland had proceedings scheduled in Ashe District Court as far back as December 2012, according to a decade-old local court filing archived by TMCnet, suggesting a long-term presence in the county. Separately, the Ashe County Sheriff's Office conducted a sex offender compliance check involving Ruland in May 2022, a routine type of check that county sheriff's offices across North Carolina publish as public notices.
Ruland's lack of a permanent address places him among a small but tracked population of unhoused residents in Ashe County. The Ashe County Coalition for the Homeless recorded seven total homeless individuals countywide in its 2025 point-in-time survey, four sheltered and three unsheltered, down from 20 counted the previous year. Local emergency housing support in the county runs through organizations including the coalition, the Hope Thru A Vision shelter in Jefferson, and Hospitality House of Northwest N.C., which serves a seven-county mountain region.
What Happens Next
If no next of kin or legal representative comes forward for Ruland, North Carolina General Statute § 130A-415 places responsibility for final disposition of an unclaimed body with local social services or county administrative officials. It is not yet known from available records whether family members have been located or contacted.
West Jefferson, where Ruland was found, is a Blue Ridge Mountain town of 1,279 residents as of the 2020 census, sitting at an elevation of nearly 3,000 feet. The town maintains its own police department, led by Jordan, separate from the Ashe County Sheriff's Office, with public safety operations reporting to the municipal Board of Aldermen. Toxicology and autopsy findings from the state medical examiner's office remain pending, and the exact cause of Ruland's death has not been publicly determined.
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