A man who was reported as missing for almost three months was found dead in a canal in a badly decomposed condition.
The body of Lee Radford, 31, was discovered in Sutton Brook in St Helens in mid-March by a passing member of the public.
At about 8.45pm on Monday, March 16, a man came across the body in Sutton Brook, in shallow water, and contacted Merseyside Police.
It was near to Gaskell Street, 150 metres upstream from the bridge.
The discovery was of a man, coroner's officer Jacqueline Horner told an inquest at Bootle Town Hall.
"Life was extinct," she said.
Ms Horner told the inquest how the body was decomposed.
The man was identified as Lee Radford and an investigation was carried out on his body by a pathologist.
The 31-year-old, born in Whiston, was single, unemployed and of no fixed address.
In January, police issued an appeal to find Mr Radford after he went missing at Christmas time last year.
He was last seen in the Marshalls Cross Road area in Sutton, St Helens, at 6.30pm on Friday, December 27.
At that time, he was wearing a black coat, black tracksuit bottoms and trainers.
Police said he was "known to travel around the St Helens area."
Today's inquest was adjourned for further investigation.
Police confirmed his death was not suspicious.
