The circumstances surrounding the death of a Newnham man who went missing in 1971, and whose remains were found in 2016, remain a mystery.
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Bones belonging to Wilfred Pearson Procter were discovered on a private property at Dilston near the Old East Tamar Highway on September 22, 2016.
He had last been seen wandering the streets of Newnham 45 years earlier.
Coroner Simon Cooper handed down his findings into the death of Mr Procter on Tuesday, but was unable to reach "any concluded view" as to the circumstances.
The then-53-year-old was reported missing from his Notley Street home on January 6, 1971 by his son Derek Proctor - who spells his surname differently to his father.
"He [Derek] reported the fact of his father's disappearance to police, telling them that he thought that his father had been murdered," Coroner Cooper said.
RELATED: Dilston remains still being probed
In an affidavit, Mr Proctor described breaking into his father's house after becoming concerned about his whereabouts, only to find a "half-eaten meal on the table with a cup and saucer on the opposite side of the table to the half-eaten meal".
"Mr Derek Proctor thought, and he may well be correct, that this indicated another person had been in the house while his father was eating his dinner," Coroner Cooper said.
Police launched a missing person case for Mr Procter in 1971, including media reports and appeals for information. However, no trace of Mr Procter was ever found.
Coroner Cooper said there was "no evidence whatsoever" that he had been alive at any time since early January 1971.
The owner of the Dilston property, Drew Hudson, discovered Mr Procter's remains while preparing a firebreak.
"He told investigators that he had previously seen the bones about a week earlier and thought they looked like old animal bones," Coroner Cooper said.
Police recovered bones, tattered clothing, a denture with a gold filling and a watch with the inscription "To Dad love Maureen and Tony 1965", from the scene.
Specialist Forensic Services Officer Senior Constable Donna Stafford, who was involved in the recovery, said in an affidavit that the majority of the remains were lying on the top surface and covered with leaf litter, ferns and some soil.
Coroner Cooper accepted her opinion that there was "no evidence to suggest the body was in a grave or that a grave had been dug".
He concluded there was a possibility Mr Procter had been murdered for the large amount of cash he was known to carry.
"The evidence is that Mr Procter routinely carried around with him a very large sum of money [between $12,000 and $20,000] in a sugar bag," Coroner Cooper said.
"It seems that the fact that he carried such a large sum of money was quite well known."
Coroner Cooper said it was also possible Mr Procter died by suicide, noting the depression associated with the end of his marriage "or that that he simply sat down under a tree to rest and died of natural causes".
"The evidence does not allow any degree of certainty to favour one hypothesis over another," he said.
No recommendations were made.
- Lifeline 13 11 14
Jessica Willard
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
