The family of a missing musician continued to search for him for five months not knowing his unidentified body had been found on a French beach, an inquest was told.
Dan Venes, 31, went missing in Margate, Kent, England, on August 14 last year, sparking a wide-scale search by police, family and friends.
However, an inquest was told that his body had actually been found on August 28 on a beach near Calais, across the English Channel, in France, but that it took a long time for the French to identify him.
It was not until January 19 this year that Venes’s family were told he had been found the previous summer.
For five months, the heartbroken family, aided by friends and the local community, had continued to search for the musician, unaware that his lifeless body had washed up across the Channel.
However, a post-mortem examination was unable to pinpoint the cause of death.
Coroner Bina Patel of Maidstone, Kent, confirmed that Venes was identified through dental records, but that a pathologist marked the cause of death as “unascertained.”
Venes’s father, Jason Joiner, said he hopes there will be a funeral soon now that his son’s body has been recovered, more than 10 months after going missing.
He described his son – who had thousands of followers on Facebook where he showcased his art and music – as a “brilliant” guitar player and “a lovely, caring person.”
Prior to his disappearance, Venes was picked up at Sturry Railway Station by police because of concerns for his welfare.
He was taken to Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother hospital in Margate, a seaside town in Kent, but is thought to have left soon after.
The last sighting of him alive was on closed-circuit TV in Margate.
Following his disappearance, a ‘Help find Dan Venes’ Facebook page sprang up and quickly gained more than 3,500 followers with members of the group tirelessly following up on possible sightings.
Police issued appeals to trace including one just weeks before his body was identified in France.
The page was changed to Remembering Dan Venes after the family were finally informed in January that his body had been retrieved.
Hundreds of people have since expressed their sorrow at the news of his death.
A full inquest will take place at Kent County Hall, Maidstone, on October 3 to try to establish the circumstances around Venes’s death.
Produced in association with SWNS.
