A homeless man who has been missing in Nelson for more than four years has been ruled dead by the coroner.
Athol James Turner has not been seen since July 2017. He lived a transient lifestyle and was not reported to police as missing until 2018.
Police suspected he had died in the absence of contradicting evidence and the matter was referred to the coroner last year.
The coroner's report said despite being homeless and transient, Turner, who was 60 in 2017, would make contact with family every two to three months and was almost always in touch with his four siblings on their birthdays.
Before his disappearance, he had lived at low-cost housing complex Franklyn Village for seven years but left in April 2017 after falling out with the manager.
The last confirmed sighting of Turner was at Nelson Hospital on 11 July 2017 when he was discharged after a five-night stay for a respiratory tract infection, lung disease and rib fractures after falling down a set of stairs.
His bank card was used at McDonalds in Nelson the next evening to purchase food and it was the last transaction on his bank records.
Turner did not attend a medical appointment on 2 August 2017 and his sickness benefit was stopped by Work and Income after he failed to supply a current medical certificate.
Police gathered evidence of several possible sightings of Turner in the following months into 2018, but all were unconfirmed.
Turner's sister Tania Kearns told Stuff in 2019 that the uncertainty of not knowing what happened to her brother had put pressure on their family, who spent the first couple of years looking for him on a near daily basis.
"I have a gut feeling he's not here anymore, I don't know why, I just have that feeling. The police have been helping us try and find him, but you feel Nelson is too small a place for you not to know."
Coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale found it was highly unlikely Turner remained alive beyond 12 July 2017 as he was unwell and had ongoing medical needs that would have been cause for him to contact a doctor if he were alive.
He had no financial means with his benefit cut and his bank accounts remained untouched. He had made no contact with family which was uncharacteristic, all of which led Borrowdale to be satisfied Turner had died.
She could not determine where or how he died as his body has never been recovered.