A NORTH Yorkshire man found dead after he was reported missing more than two months earlier may have died of hypothermia, an inquest heard.

Ian Turner walked out of his Sherburn home on September 30 last year after an argument with his partner of 28 years.

In November, John Good made an emotional appeal for him to get in touch.

But on December 8 Mr Turner's body was found in a ditch by Whitewalls Quarry, Welham Road, Norton.

Home office pathologist Dr Philip Lumb told the inquest at Pickering Magistrates' Court that he had been unable to establish a cause of death.

Toxicology results showed ethanol levels in Mr Turner's body were equivalent to twice the legal drink-drive limit.

But Dr Lumb said: "It's difficult to tell whether that reflects alcohol he had actually drunk or post mortem changes."

Although traces of painkillers and drugs to treat Mr Turner's depression were detected, they were not consistent with overdose levels.

"I can exclude as far as I can injuries, natural diseases or toxicological cause of death," said Dr Lumb.

"Considering the time of year, I think it is important to think of hypothermia as a possibility."

Mr Turner's former colleague, Eirian Hughes, who worked at Malton Jobcentre, told coroner Michael Oakley that Ian suffered from depression and had not been his usual witty self.

"John had suggested moving to Spain , which Ian was not happy about," she said.

Mr Good said the day his partner went missing they had argued.

"I just expected him to come back, it was a slight tiff, an argument," he said. "When he had not returned I started to get worried. The way he had been talking I was worried he was going to do something to himself."

Mr Turner had been seen walking along Welham Road on October 8, said Mr Oakley.

"How he has come to be where he was will not be known," he said. "The last time he was actually seen by his partner was when he left home to go to Scarborough on September 30.

"There was a visual sighting of him by someone who knew him well on October 8, but otherwise there was no evidence of where he had been or what he had been doing."

He recorded an open verdict.

Updated: 10:17 Friday, April 18, 2003