New details about the homeless man who froze to death in Provo are coming to light, even as local officials are asking for donations toward a long-term solution to homelessness in Utah Valley.

Larry Edward Carter was 48 years old and had been homeless off and on for 15 years when he was found dead in his Jeep in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Dec. 31, said his son, Jeremy Carter, and daughter-in-law, Brandy, on Wednesday.

Jeremy and his wife said they had repeatedly begged Larry Carter to move into their Springville home, or even eat regular meals with them, but all their offers were staunchly refused.

"He'd always say, 'not tonight, maybe tomorrow night,' " Jeremy said. "He always had an excuse. I don't think he was extremely mentally ill, he was just uncomfortable. He told me a lot of times that he didn't want to impose."

Just days before he died, Larry had asked the couple to buy a propane heater for him to use inside the Jeep where he slept, the Carters said. Fearing fire or asphyxiation, the Carters refused, again asking Larry to move into their home, at least until winter temperatures warmed.

Larry would park in different places overnight and sleep, even though the heater in the Jeep had never worked, the family said. He was found dead in the parking lot of an apartment complex where a friend lived. Police were called to the scene, and Larry's money clip was missing along with other belongings.

An autopsy gave the cause of death as unknown, the couple said. They don't believe he froze to death.

It was not the first time Larry had been robbed. In November 2005, while parked in another area of Provo, a group of men dragged Larry from his Jeep during the night, beat him with a piece of metal, and robbed him of his dog, money and prescription pain killers, the couple said. Larry was in the hospital for more than a week and his health had been fading since the beating.

A diesel mechanic with five children, Larry had lived a stable life until 15 years ago when a motorcycle accident left him with a shattered body and brain damage, the couple said. Since that day, Larry had not been free of pain and had employment and housing only sporadically. He received about $480 a month in Social Security disability payments.

Though Larry had a cell phone and spoke to Jeremy regularly, the last time the couple saw Larry was on Christmas Day, when he arrived at their home at 5:30 a.m. and spent the day, crying as his grandchildren opened presents from him, the couple said.

At one point Larry had lived in a camp trailer he towed behind his Jeep and parked illegally around Provo and other places, the couple said. Eventually the trailer was impounded and Larry began living full time in his Jeep, which needed constant repair.

Jeremy said his father was a good and loving man who repeatedly said he did not want to be a burden on his son's family.

Brent Crane of the Utah County Food and Care Coalition said Larry ate daily meals at the coalition for years and often asked for motel vouchers.

One of the difficulties of assisting the homeless is attempting to help those who "isolate themselves, judge themselves, and make choices about their worthiness and don't want to be a burden to anyone," said Myla Dutton of Community Action Services, noting that because these people often do not come forward for help, it is difficult to know how many are in the community.

Difficult though it may be, the truth is that funding is always scarce and is better invested over the long term if used to help those who want help, she said. Five months into the fiscal year, Community Action Services, which assists only families with children, has already spent nearly 80 percent of its budget used to find temporary housing for those in dire need. Overall, the group will need $25,000 to maintain services at the current level throughout the year.

"There are no easy answers," Dutton said.

In an emergency meeting called by Utah County Commissioners on Tuesday, a handful of agencies discussed what immediate measures could be taken to prevent more homeless people from freezing to death this winter, Crane said. Although there is some discussion of opening an emergency shelter, the cost of staffing it with social workers and police all night, as well as the cost of insurance and other expenses, likely means it won't happen.

Since media attention focused on the death of Larry Carter a week ago, the Food and Care Coalition has received almost $7,000 in donations for motel vouchers, and though it is the largest surge in donations following a media story in 20 years, it is only enough to ensure no homeless person will be turned away for two or perhaps three weeks, he said.

Utah Valley had a homeless shelter 20 years ago, and it was closed because it was overwhelmed by homeless people traveling from Salt Lake and Ogden, Dutton said.

The Food and Care Coalition provides meals for up to 350 homeless people a day, said Crane, noting it costs more than $200 a week to provide motel vouchers to a single homeless person. It would be easy to spend the budgets for all homeless programs on just housing, forcing all other programs to shut down.

"We get through the cold weather times," he said. "That is going to take care of the life-threatening risk our clients are facing on the streets, but if we focus on that, we never get to a solution."

Money is now being raised to build a 37-unit transitional housing facility where the chronically homeless could receive social services, job training and other help for several months or more, he said. About $4.2 million has been raised so far for the $11.2 million facility.

"That is going to put a serious dent into the housing problem for our community," he said, noting it is a better long-term solution than a shelter and costs less over time than providing motel vouchers.

Because of demand, those who ask most for motel vouchers have a lower chance of getting them, he said. The goal of providing housing is to help a homeless person or family stabilize their lives to the point where they can live safely with less assistance or without assistance, thus freeing up existing funds to help others. Those homeless who are not seeking to become more stable and independent can use up the resources that could be used to help those who want to be stable.

Paying for housing is not the only issue, Crane said. Some homeless will trash housing when it is provided, either because of drug or alcohol issues, because they horde trash or just because they are not supervised. They often do not know how to cook, clean or communicate appropriately with landlords.

To help keep the homeless off the streets during life-threatening weather, a donation fund has been set up. Starting this afternoon, donations to the Food and Care Coalition Fund can be made at any branch of Wells Fargo Bank. Donations will also go toward the construction of permanent transitional housing in Provo.

Jeremy and Brandy Carter are also seeking donations toward the burial expenses of Larry Carter. Donations can be made to the Larry Carter Fund at any branch of Washington Mutual.

Caleb Warnock can be reached at 443-3263 or cwarnock@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.