Hawke's Bay man Hugh McAllister has been declared dead, five years after he went missing on the West Coast.
Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean declared the 70-year-old gold miner dead, although the case remains a mystery.
Five years before he disappeared, Mr McAllister moved to the West Coast from Hawke's Bay to take up gold panning.
He was last seen at his Greenstone River claim, about 5km from Kumara, on January 21, 2010.
His son, who still lives in Kumara, found his father's ute near his claim at Greenstone five days later, complete with $15,000 worth of gold.
