A husband was found dead in a garage almost two months after a police call handler failed to pass on concerns over his welfare, an inquest heard.
Christopher Dean, 52, was reported missing on May 5 but officers never acted on these worries.
But it's believed he had actually died weeks earlier on March 24.
And an inquest heard officers - who were stationed at the property for days - were initially unable to identify him due to decomposition.
Stoke-on-Trent Live says scrapmen eventually discovered the body after Christopher's wife Angela asked them to clean the garage.
Police are now looking at how they handled the report of the disapperance.
"He had been reported missing and a call was made on May 5 but the call taker told them everything would be fine. There has since been an internal investigation because, from my point of view, that could not be the case," Detective Constable Colin Rushton, of Staffordshire Police, said.
"Facial and fingerprint recognition is our go-to but on this occasion that was not possible due to decomposition.
"He had documentation that identified him and a mobile phone with Angela Dean's number listed as 'perfect wife'. That phone powered down at 3.40pm on March 25.
"He was wearing a huge jumper, three t-shirts, and two jackets, so we can assume that March 24 could have been the time of death."
A toxicology report ordered by police discovered Christopher had morphine, diazepam and codeine in his system at the time of death, as well as signs of heart problems.
Andrew Barkley, senior coroner for Staffordshire, concluded the drug use as well as heart issues would have led to Christopher's death.
He said: "Christopher was found in a garage at a property where his wife lived. Their relationship was such that they would be together and then apart - at the time they were apart.
"It wasn't unusual for him to go to London or to stay in the garage and the discovery of his body was made by the scrap metal dealers.
"It's clear he had been there for some times and his phone was last used on March 25. It seems he was looking for somewhere to stay. Police confirmed it was him after DNA tests.
"I conclude he died of drug use and heart disease."
Scrapmen described the lock-up in Northwood, Stoke-on-Trent, as a "man cave".
The inquest heard Christopher, who was married to Angela for four years, kept lots of his belongings there.
"The scrapmen said they saw legs in the garage and I recognised it was what Christopher would wear. We then called for the ambulance," Angela said in a statement.
"I didn't think anything of it at first because he would go to London to see family, or would sleep outside in the garage. It was his man cave, full of all sorts of rubbish he kept.
"We would get on one day and argue the next."
