Man’s body found in Ennis 16 months after disappearance, coroner hears

The skeletal remains of a 39-year old man were discovered at a derelict house in Ennis 16 months after he disappeared from his home in England, an inquest has heard.

Garda Michael O'Neill told Clare Coroner's Court, sitting in Kilrush, that Ilie Stangaciu was found by Clare County Council workmen at a derelict council house in Ennis on September 21st, 2020.

His badly decomposed remains were found in a room at the house on Lahinch Road. A wallet containing his identification was found at the scene

A postmortem found the cause of death was asphyxiation by hanging. There was no other evidence of injury to his body.

Mr Stangaciu, a Romanian national, was last seen by his wife 16 months earlier at their home in south east England.

In a deposition, Mr Stangaciu’s wife said she never saw her husband, who was an electrician, again after he left for work to go on the nightshift on May 28th, 2019.

The court heard Mr Stangaciu got a ferry to Ireland but no evidence was heard how he came to be at the house at Claureen in Ennis and where he had been in the interim period.

Insp Paul Slattery said gardaí were able to formally identify Mr Stangaciu by building a DNA profile from his remains and then matching it with a DNA sample from the man’s mother.

No family members of Mr Stangaciu were present at the inquest.

Clare County Coroner, Isobel O’Dea said it would be insufficient to bring in anything other than an open verdict in the case. She said there was no evidence there was anything suspicious or to suggest the involvement of a third party.

Ms O’Dea said it was a “sad” and “difficult ” case.

She asked Garda O’Neill to convey her sympathy to Mr Stangaciu’s wife and to inquire if she wishes her late husband’s remains to be repatriated or cremated locally. “I am conscious that the remains have been in University Hospital Limerick for eight months now,” the coroner said.

She noted that the issuing of the death certificate for Mr Stangaciu will be delayed due to the HSE cyberattack.