Missing man David Newby inquest into his death Truro

Seventy two year old Mr Newby, who built his own home in Roseudgeon near Penzance in 1983 and claimed the land after a lifetime for travelling in the Merchant Navy, was reported missing by his niece on November 15, 2023.

Mr Newby, who his brother described as being quite a character, was last seen by his sister Lynette on November 10, 2023 when she went to give him mobile phone as a replacement for his old one.

However she described Mr Newby, who was born in Redruth in 1951, as a technophobe who only used cash, despite having bank cards.

Mr Newby was described as quite a character (Image: Family handout)

She said recently her brother had started to suffer from dementia which was aggravated by his drinking of alcohol. She said she and his niece Claire helped Mr Newby with the maintenance of his home, provided him with food and did his washing.

They would see him daily but sometimes he would then go off for two or three days on his own, but this was not unusual. She said a long term relationship had ended a while ago and he was single and had no children.

She said he was always happy and smiling and never discussed suicide. “He was very happy,” she said. She described him as a “free spirit”.

She said when the coalman came to deliver on Monday, November 13, Mr Newby was not there and the coalman came to her and she paid him.

“I thought Dave must have been out for a change of scenery,” she said.

Mr Newby built his own home and claimed the land in 1983 (Image: Family handout)

On November 15 she visited Mr Newby’s home and became worried because Mr Newby’s cats were outside and appeared to be starving and not been fed by her brother which was completely out of character. She was also concerned that no clothes washing had been done and he would still have been in the same clothes she last saw him in.

That same day his niece reported him missing. His car was eventually found in Mullion car park by members of the public alerted by media appeals and discussions on social media. They said it had been abandoned for many days with shredded tyres.

His naked body, apart from wetsuit boots, was eventually found washed up on the beach at Polurrian Cove by a family out for the day on November 19.

His sister said she thought that her brother may have started to try and find his own way home along the coast after his car became damaged. He got lost and confused and becoming disoriented by hypothermia, taking his clothes off and somehow entering the water.

She said he never went swimming and only ever went paddling, although he had gone into the sea in June for the first time in years but said it was too cold.

“I believe he fell somewhere along the coast if his car was damaged,” she said. “He would have walked back following the coast. I’m presuming he fell off the cliff or off the harbour. It was a horrible night, very cold and slippy."

DC Nicholas Salisbury told the inquest that he had been involved in the investigation into Mr Newby’s disappearance which had been classed as high risk.

He said the police had put out a media appeal as had Mr Newby’s niece Claire on social media.

He said the huge interest in the case on social media had put a lot of pressure on the police with lots of sightings of Mr Newby being reported which all had to be investigated but all proved negative.

He said Mr Newby’s silver Nissan had last been clocked by traffic cameras in Truro at 7.53pm on November 11 and at 10pm in Pool later that night.

A post mortem carried out by Dr Tim Bracey at the Royal Cornwall Hospital could not find a cause of death because the body had been in the sea too long.

He could not say whether Mr Newby drowned and, while there was no evidence of hypothermia which could have led to him removing his clothes, he could not rule this out. He told the coroner Emma Hillson that he found no evidence of injuries consistent with Mr Newby falling from a height.

He said cause of death was “unascertained”.

Mr Newby's belongings were never found.

Ms Hillson in her findings said that Mr Newby was self-sufficient and lived a reclusive existence. He was a free spirit who helped others.

She found that his cause of death was unascertained and delivered an open verdict. Offering her condolences to the family she said he seemed like “quite a character”.