Gerontology Research Group
However, in March 2004, one week after Coates' death, "The Washington Post" ran a longer follow-up story which quoted the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) who said that a register of William J. Coates with his parents and siblings in the 1930 United States census listed his age as 18 years old. The census data would mean that Coates was 92 at the time of his death. "The Washington Post" noted in their March 2004 follow-up story that none of Coates' relatives had ever claimed he was 114, and that they knew little of his life. The "Post" quoted a distressed relative's reaction saying "The "Post" should have researched that [earlier, February 2004] story and gotten their facts straight before it was ever released in the first place".