A BELOVED dad-of-four ‘vanished into thin air’ a day after appearing distant and vacant at a family meal.
Retired joiner Carl Lake went missing after travelling from his Bootle home to Southport to celebrate his grandson’s 18th birthday.
He spent the evening of May 14 eating with family at Hickory’s Smokehouse in Kew but seemed unwell and appeared to have deteriorated mentally and physically compared to a couple of weeks earlier.
The 61-year-old was last seen alive the following evening when he went into Mike’s News newsagents on Nevill Street after leaving the nearby Wetherspoons pub on Lord Street.
His body was found by a pest control worker at Crossens Waterworks in Southport seven months later, after extensive searches and appeals on social media and in local newspapers including the Liverpool ECHO.
An inquest into Mr Lake’s death, held at Southport Town Hall today, heard that he had appeared distant on the night of the family celebration, drifting in and out of conversations.
He was taken to his hotel by his daughters after the meal, but during check-in complained of chest pains and was taken to Southport Hospital where he underwent multiple tests before being discharged at around 1.15am.
The following day, he spoke over the phone to his daughter Louise Gilbert several times and appeared in significantly better health.
He’d had two or three drinks at Wetherspoons and was seen chatting to various other customers on CCTV footage reviewed by police.
But when he stopped answering the phone, Ms Gilbert became worried and went to search for him in nearby pubs.
Mr Lake was reported missing and declared ‘high-risk’ by police, due to his history of depression, frail state and health conditions which included fibromyalgia and having suffered two strokes.
Widespread appeals to the public for information on his disappearance were later launched by the police.
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CCTV analysis revealed he had visited a newsagent immediately after leaving the pub but no further sightings were recorded.
Giving evidence, Det Insp Jackie Guinness of Merseyside Police said it was astounding that he was not seen again.
She said: “It was as if he vanished into thin air. It’s pretty unbelievable given the location he was in and how busy it was.”
Statements submitted by staff at the waterworks and various police officers were read by coroner Graham Jackson.
Based on the location of where his body was found, it was explained that the body must have travelled through the water from the direction of Birkdale rather than from the sea.
It was also explained that Mr Lake’s body had deteriorated as a result of the length of time spent in water, meaning the pathologist was unable to record a cause of death.
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Mr Jackson was also unable to record a definitive conclusion, saying it was impossible to ascertain how Mr Lake had ended up in the water.
He said while the death was possibly a result of misadventure or due to a fall caused by poor health, there was no way of knowing.
An open conclusion was recorded.
Mr Jackson said: "I appreciate that is an unsatisfactory conclusion. It is the only conclusion that I or any other coroner could come to."
Speaking after the inquest, Mr Lake's daughter Louise Gilbert paid tribute to those who had helped during the search to find her father.
She said: "The amount of shares on social media and support that we received was really overwhelming, so thank you to everyone."
