MYSTERY remains after a dad's body was found in a peat bog five years after he went missing.
James Hodgkiss was 34 when he was last seen alive in August 2016.
Tragically the dad-of-two's remains were found in Red Moss nature reserve in Bolton, Greater Manchester in January last year.
Police said the grim discovery was made by conservation landscapers who were cutting back trees and hedges on Futura Park.
An inquest into his death has now been opened and closed, but it has revealed few answers for the 34-year-old's loved ones.
James, who struggled with a drug addiction, was last seen by his partner at a McDonald's in the early hours of August 3, 2016.
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An extensive missing person probe was launched at the time but the dad could not be located.
When his remains were found in 2022 he had to be identified by dental records.
An inquest at Bolton Coroner's Court yesterday heard evidence about both the period leading up to James' disappearance and the time following his discovery.
But it could not answer how or when he died.
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Professor Walsh, recording an open conclusion into James' death, said: "The investigation was as thorough as it could be bearing in mind the unknowns.
"I couldn't exclude natural causes, accident, or third-party involvement.
"He seemed to live a double life. He cared for his children and was good with his children, but then he had another life which was born out of drug dependency.
"The coroner described what happened at his last sighting as a mystery and finding out was "just currently not possible to answer".
Professor Walsh said: "There is insufficient evidence to say what happened. We don't know how he came to be in that area or how he came to die."
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