A MAN who had been reported missing convinced a police officer that there was no cause for concern and that he would be returning home.

About 24 hours later, however, John Hawkins’ Mitsubishi Warrior was found burned out in a remote spot on Denbigh Moors.

A major police search was then launched but it was another three weeks before a farmer found his body hanging from a tree about a mile and half from his vehicle.

An inquest in Ruthin heard that following the tragedy North Wales Police’s professional standards officers examined bodycam footage of the chat between Mr Hawkins and PC Jade Swire, who was found to have acted correctly.

Mr Hawkins’ wife Tracy told the hearing that she, too, felt that the officer, who was unaware of any possible mental health problems, did everything she could.

Mr Hawkins, 51, went missing from his home in Hunt’s Field, Lymm, near Warrington, on December 12 last year and when his wife reported it his vehicle was traced heading into North Wales.

It was near Dolgellau that PC Swire stopped him, and he told her: “I’m not missing, no”.

He said he was in the area to collect materials for his work as a landscaper and that his wife was probably worried because his phone wasn’t working, but he promised to call her.”

But Mrs Hawkins said that was far from the truth and it was “a good act” as her husband had been acting out of character for some time, probably unable to come to the terms that their two children were no longer dependent on him. He had previously been a house-husband while Mrs Hawkins was the main breadwinner.

She said they were planning to move to Cornwall but the day before he went missing she realised that he had not completed details of the mortgage for their new home.

“He was a bit woolly,” she said.

She described him as “a fantastic dad and husband”, but said he could not function when depressed. Five years previously he had also gone missing and spoken of killing himself.

A lorry driver reported seeing the burned-out car on December 13, the day after Mr Hawkins went missing, but the police were not notified until December 14.

A note found on the wreck stated: “Sorry. Love you all. John.”

Mrs Hawkins asked Chief Inspector Owain Llewellyn, who gave evidence of the search of rough terrain up to two kilometers from the car, whether any lessons had been learned.

But Joanne Lees, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central, said she had heard no evidence which might trigger the need for a Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths.

Mrs Hawkins said she acknowledged that the procedures had been correctly followed but was alarmed by the conclusions that were reached in her husband’s case when she had kept stressing the risk her husband posed to himself.

Mrs Lees recorded a conclusion of suicide.