here's what I think: Okay, well, first of all, there were A LOT of mistakes in this movie (you know, stuff that makes no sense from what they've told us). So what I think is that he couldn't REALLY be dead, considering that he CAN'T DIE, but in the movie, he really is supposed to be dead, because they said he was lost to davey jones locker (wasn't he a star in the sixties that guest starred on the Brady Bunch?? that confused me when I first saw the movie) and I'm assuming that whenever they mention Davey Jones locker they mean Hell (or Heaven) so yeah, they mean for Will's father to be dead.
Davey Jones Locker means the bottom of the sea.
What they did was tie a cannon ball to his ankles and drop him over board so he sunk 2 the bottom savvy (as they said "tied a cannon 2 bootstrap's bootstraps"😉
He was cursed!!! Some people think he wasn't but he is otherwise they wouldn't of needed the blood 2 lift the curse.
So he could of escaped during the 8 or so years he was down at the bottom of the ocean. I think he probally went into hidding as Barbossa would of been after him and it would be better if they thought he was dead still