Elderly man rescued in Houston captivity case dies

HOUSTON -- An elderly man held captive for months in a Houston garage has died, police said.

Investigators have yet to release information about what caused the death of William Merle Greenawalt, 79, who was pronounced dead July 25, according to a police statement released Tuesday.

Greenawalt was one of three men freed July 19 after police responded to a 911 call about “persons being held against their will” at a north Houston ranch house, according to the statement.

Police found the men confined to a renovated garage, where they said they had been living without a proper bathroom or furniture beyond a single chair. The men told investigators that they had been lured to the house and held captive, their government checks seized, police said.

A fourth man found in the house, Walter Renard Jones, 31, was arrested and later charged in state district court with two counts of injury to the elderly-serious bodily injury.

Property records show the home was owned by Jones’ grandmother, but Jones did not live there, a police spokeswoman told the Los Angeles Times.

The Houston Chronicle reported that Jones’ grandmother had been running a nonprofit homeless shelter out of the purple-trimmed, one-story brick home, Regina’s Faith Ministries, but that the state revoked the group’s nonprofit status three years ago because of tax reporting issues.

“The three men claimed to have been misled by the suspect [Jones] into residing at the home in exchange for food and shelter. All three men claimed the suspect used force and coercion to keep them there for the purpose of monetary gain,” the police statement said.

The two other men held captive in the garage, Dean Cottingham, 59, and John Edward Padget, 64, were treated and released from a local hospital and are now in the care of Adult Protective Services, according to police.

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molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

Twitter: @mollyhf