An inquest has opened into the death of 18-year-old Frankie Morris whose body was found in woodland a month after he went missing.
The hearing was told a post-mortem examination had confirmed he died from "compression of the neck due to ligature hanging".
The teenager vanished almost five weeks ago after attending a rave in a disused Gwynedd quarry. His body was found on Thursday, June 3, in dense woodland near Caerhun on the outskirts of Bangor. His body was discovered by North Wales Police almost a month to the day he was reported missing by his family. His disappearance sparked a major search involving police officers and volunteers.
Mr Morris, from Llandegfan, attended a rave at a disused quarry near Waunfawr on May 1.
He was last seen pushing his bike near the Vaynol Arms in Pentir near Bangor at 1.12pm on Sunday, May 2, with the bike later found nearby.
A formal inquest opening into his death held in Caernarfon on Wednesday heard how on June 3 a member of the public contacted North Wales Police reporting a "bad smell" in the woodlands near the Caerhun area.
Acting senior coroner for north west Wales Katie Sutherland said: "Following the reports police officers searched the dense woodland and located a body believed to be Frankie.
"I ordered a forensic post-mortem rather than the standard post-mortem given the circumstances surrounding Frankie's death and it was carried out by Dr Brian Rogers at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd on June 4.
"A provisional cause of death was given as compression of the neck due to ligature hanging."
The full inquest into Mr Morris' death has now been adjourned pending the completion of the investigation.
Last month police officers arrested one man on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving in connection with the search as well as a man and woman on suspicion of perverting the course of justice but all three have since been released.
North Wales Police have since said his death is not being treated as suspicious.
After the body was formally identified as that of the missing man his mother Alice Morris said: “On behalf of the family I’d like to thank everyone involved in the search for Frankie, in particular the local community.
"Frankie was very much loved and will be dearly missed. I would be grateful if we could now be given privacy to grieve in this difficult time.”
A GoFundMe page to help provide funds for Frankie's devastated family, as well as for the search teams who have helped try to discover his whereabouts, has now raised almost £7,500.
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