Fort Bragg soldier found dead in home

Staff Sgt. Alton Jefferson II, 36, of Lancaster, Calif., was later pronounced dead. The cause of his death is under investigation.

Jefferson was a photographer who, in the last entry on his photography blog dated Jan. 23, detailed his recovery from a broken pelvis suffered after a jump:

"There are much worse ways to be injured, and I thank God that he had his hand over me on that day," he wrote. "But I would not wish this injury on my worst enemy. I maintain my sense of humor about the whole thing because it’s a weird injury. For the most part I feel fine. As long as I’m still, there is little to no pain (the last couple days have been rough with the cold though). The thing is that I’m pretty much helpless otherwise. The doc said it would be a few weeks before I can walk again, and I would be a while till I’m at 100%. But no surgery, no internal damage."

He joined the Army in October 2000 and joined the 82nd Airborne Division in February 2012. His deployments include two tours in Afghanistan and one tour in Iraq.