There’s grief without closure for the family of murdered electrical parts delivery driver Murray Thompson.
The body of Mr Thompson, born in December 1975, has not been found since he disappeared in April 2010.
James Evans was convicted of murder after a trial at St Albans Crown Court and the family hopes he will eventually divulge the body’s whereabouts.
This morning at an inquest in Hatfield, Hertfordshire coroner Edward Thomas recorded a verdict that Mr Thompson, who worked for Hemel Hempstead firm Gil-Lec, was unlawfully killed.
He told the family he had to seek special permission to hold the inquest because there was no body.
It allowed the family to finally receive a death certificate and prove to various companies that he was dead.
The coroner revealed that he can help families in similar circumstances to deal with the financial affairs of loved ones who had died.
Mr Thomas said there was evidence from forensics and the court case that Mr Thompson had been unlawfully killed in Watford. The cause of death was recorded as “unascertainable”.
A coroner’s records are kept for 75 years and can be updated if more evidence comes to light, he added.
Mr Thomas said: “It is so awful what happened to him and that you do not know. It must be devastating.”
The family declined to comment, except to say that they thought the press had done a good job.
Case officer Det Con Victoria Major of Herts Police appealed for the public’s help with information and confirmed that the case has not been closed.
“We will follow up all valid lines of inquiry, that will never go away,” she said.