The family of a man who allegedly died at a Portland transitional housing complex is suing the facility's operator after they say his decomposed body went undiscovered for weeks while employees failed to perform required welfare checks, according to court documents obtained by Law&Crime.
Background
Central City Concern (CCC) operates the Shoreline Apartments in Portland, Oregon, providing housing and support services for unhoused residents and adults on parole transitioning back into the community. Eric Eno was living at the facility under a care and safety plan that included mandatory wellness checks following his release from prison, according to the lawsuit filed by his sister Kristine Eno.
The complaint alleges that Kristine repeatedly contacted CCC employees in July and August 2024 requesting they perform welfare checks on her brother. The workers allegedly refused despite their obligation to monitor residents under the care plan, the family claims.
On Aug. 17, 2024, other residents at Shoreline Apartments began reporting a foul odor emanating from Eno's room, prompting CCC employees to call 911 for a wellness check, according to the complaint. Workers told dispatchers they had been unable to locate Eno after he stopped signing in on daily logs and his key fob showed no building entry for 11 days.
The Investigation
When workers finally entered Eno's room at Shoreline Apartments on Aug. 17 or Aug. 18, 2024, they discovered his body with "significant postmortem alteration" indicating he had died weeks earlier, the complaint alleges. The decomposition was so advanced that Eno's remains no longer retained fingerprints and were too degraded for his sister to obtain even a lock of his hair for burial purposes.
The lawsuit names Central City Concern as the primary defendant, seeking damages on grounds including negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and wrongful death. Kristine Eno claims CCC prioritized occupancy levels over resident safety because discovering her brother's absence or death could have compromised revenue dependent on maintaining minimum residency numbers.
"During the time Eric Eno was missing, defendant [CCC] could access and review Eric Eno's key fob history, case file, and other materials, and it was aware of Eric Eno's failure to sign in on the daily sign in sheets," the complaint alleges. The lawsuit also names Multnomah County as a defendant due to its service provider contract with CCC.
The family is one of at least seven families who have filed lawsuits against CCC concerning residents whose deaths went unnoticed at its apartment complexes across Portland, according to local reporting by KGW. One such case involved Brendan Mackey, whose decayed corpse allegedly went undiscovered for approximately two months before being found in February 2024 at the same Shoreline building with some shared staff members.
Key Takeaways
- Eric Eno died at Central City Concern's Shoreline Apartments and his body allegedly sat undiscovered for weeks while employees failed to perform required wellness checks
- Kristine Eno reportedly contacted CCC repeatedly requesting welfare checks on her brother in July and August 2024, but employees refused
- The decomposition was so severe that investigators could not obtain fingerprints or adequate DNA samples from the remains
- At least seven lawsuits have been filed against CCC regarding similar incidents of undiscovered deaths at its facilities since 2021
- Insurance company Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance Risk Retention Group reportedly agreed to a $8 million settlement but has yet to distribute funds, according to January 2026 court filings
What's Next
CCC and Multnomah County have declined comment citing pending litigation. A hearing date in the Eno case has not yet been scheduled. The seven families' lawsuits are proceeding through Multnomah County Circuit Court, with attorneys claiming the insurance settlement remains undistributed despite agreement on terms.