After the death of a Kingdom Manor personal care home resident in Canonsburg over the weekend, state officials on Monday moved up plans to close the facility and relocate nine people living there.

Department of Public Welfare spokeswoman Stacey Witalec said the state already had planned to shut down the 23-bed home because of past problems. Kingdom Manor has been operating on a provisional license since July, and continuing problems found in a January re-inspection resulted in an order to revoke its license, she said.

That was before Kingdom Manor resident Wayne E. Murphy, 60, was found dead Sunday evening at the bottom of an outdoor rear staircase of the nearby Mount Olive Baptist Church, according to the Washington County coroner's office.

An autopsy was planned for Mr. Murphy, and Canonsburg police were investigating the death. The coroner's office said Mr. Murphy was reported missing at noon Saturday, and he had last been seen about three hours earlier.

The church is located across Greenside Avenue from Kingdom Manor. Ms. Witalec said the personal care home lost electrical power and heat during the weekend without contacting authorities for assistance, although it had those services Monday. It also did not voluntarily report the missing resident or his death, as required, she said.

Because the facility chose last week not to appeal a license revocation order, a plan would have been developed for its closure, Ms. Witalec said. Due to the weekend's events, an immediate closure was ordered Monday, she said.

"Obviously, there are emergency health and safety issues in the facility that would have threatened the life and safety of anyone living there," Ms. Witalec said.

DPW staff and representatives of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging, which covers Washington County, visited Kingdom Manor Monday to assist residents in finding placement with family members or other personal care homes.

State records identify Glenn Burns as the owner of the facility. A person who identified himself as the administrator of Kingdom Manor on the phone Monday declined to discuss the facility's closure or Mr. Murphy's death, or to give his name.

State inspectors' visits to the personal care home over the past year identified problems such as a lack of required training and criminal background checks for employees; failure to show evidence of required pre-admission screenings and proper medical evaluations of residents; and insufficient preparations for fire or other emergencies.

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