By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The body of a 42-year-old Alabaster man was discovered along a walking path near Birmingham’s Vulcan Park June 9.

A walker on the path notified authorities at about 10:30 a.m. June 9 after the person smelled a decomposing body off the trail, which runs along the side of Red Mountain near Vulcan Park, said Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Pat Curry.

When Birmingham police and firefighters responded to the scene, they discovered the body of Alabaster resident Ray Brown in a heavily wooded area downhill from the trail, Curry said.

“He had been there long enough to begin decomposing. The walker noticed the smell and called police,” Curry said.

Curry said there is no evidence foul play was involved in the incident, and said Brown’s cause of death was pending a toxicology report.