Inquest opened into death of John Ankers (From Wirral Globe)

Inquest opened into death of John Ankers

10:41am Wednesday 30th January 2013 in News

THE inquest into the death of “man in a million” John Ankers has been opened.

The body of 28-year-old, of Sandfield Road, Upton, was found in woodland near Arrowe Park Hospital on Wednesday, January 23.

John was described by friends as a “man in a million” and a special campaign has been launched to raise money for his funeral.

His family and friends had raised the alarm of his disappearance three days earlier after he failed to turn up for work at Blockbuster in Birkenhead.

The inquest was opened on Friday at the West Kirby offices of Wirral coroner Christopher Johnson.

Coroner’s officer Arthur Flower said: “The deceased left his home address on the morning of January 20 at around 10.15am, making his way to his place of employment at the Blockbuster store in Birkenhead, where he was due to start work as a sales assistant at 11am that day.

“However he subsequently failed to arrive at work and attempts to contact him via his mobile phone were unsuccessful. And when the deceased later failed to return home, he was reported to the police as a missing person.

“Despite extensive searches carried out by uniformed officers and family and friends, he remained unaccounted for.

“At approximately 11am on January 23, the body of a male subsequently identified as being that of the deceased was discovered hanging in Arrowe Park woods at the rear of the staff car park of Arrowe Park Hospital.”

Mr Ankers was pronounced dead by paramedics at 11.25am and police were satisfied there were no suspicious circumstances.

The inquest was adjourned until a date to be fixed.

To donate to John’s funeral costs visit https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/bQMTb?psid=41974948cfe94cd88958db265879cf48