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Homeless man found dead near Beaumont gas station had been hoping to reunite with family

Officers had attempted several times to bring Jones to a shelter to escape the freezing cold but he refused.

A homeless man who had been hoping to reunite with his estranged family will never get the chance after police found his body Thursday morning behind a Beaumont gas station.

The body of Terry L. Jones, 57, was found just before 11:30 a.m. Thursday in a grassy area behind a dumpster just west of the Shell station on Laurel at the Interstate 10 access road according to Officer Haley Morrow of the Beaumont Police Department.

Police officers had checked on Jones several times in the last few days to attempt to bring him to a shelter to escape the freezing cold but he refused according to a release from the Beaumont Police Department.

Witnesses identified the dead man as Jones police said.

Though police said Jones' death does not appear suspicious they are awaiting on the results of an autopsy that was ordered by Precinct Six Justice of the Peace Ransom "Duce" Jones according to Morrow.

Just before Christmas Jones was featured in a story aired on 12News about his hopes to find a niece he thought lived in San Antonio.

Kristen Wertman, of Beaumont, met Jones just around the corner from where his body was found and posted a photo of him on Facebook hoping to help locate his niece.

Wertman has a brother who has been missing for seven years and told 12News at the time that helping Jones find his family would comfort her.

After Wertman posted Jones' photo on several San Antonio area Facebook pages and following stories on 12News and our sister station KENS5 in San Antonio, Jones' niece contacted 12News.

However, his niece was adamant that she and her family wanted nothing to do with her estranged uncle.

"Money doesn't mean anything to me as much as being loved," Jones told 12News at the time.

12News passed her name on to police who have been unable to contact Jones' family.

Police ask that a family member please contact them at 409-832-1234.

Terry Jones, 57

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