I recently found out an old friend of mine passed away last year but I can't find anything online about his death without having to pay, I don't have a credit card or anything so I can't use a paysite. I really want to know what happened to him, and I can't find any of his friends or family to help me. Anyone know a good free site?

Most likely any sites you pay for will only give you the day of birth/death and no much more.
Also unless it was obvious how he died or they did an autopsy his reason for dying may not even be known.