MYSTERY still surrounds the death of a York charity fundraiser, whose disappearance sparked a nationwide search before his body was pulled from the River Nidd.

An inquest into the death of Tristan Long, 29, who worked for the International Service development agency in Goodramgate, York, has failed to shed any more light on how he lost his life, and North Yorkshire west coroner Geoff Fell returned an open verdict.

Tristan, of Hardisty Cloisters, vanished on April 16. His father, Andrew, reported him missing after he failed to meet a relative at York Station.

Later that day his white Skoda car was found on rural grassland near the River Nidd, close to Walshford, near Wetherby, leaving police and his parents baffled about his whereabouts.

Tristan's decomposed body was found in the Nidd at nearby Cattal eight weeks later.

An inquest at Harrogate Magistrates Court heard it had been impossible to determine what caused Tristan's death because of the time his body had been in the water.

Detective Sergeant Judith Smith, who led the investigation, said in a statement that North Yorkshire Police had carried out a wide search to establish where Tristan was.

Officers searched nearby woods, fields and riverbanks and also advertised him as a missing person nation-wide. Their efforts were in vain.

Officers discovered he had made several purchases on the days before his disappearance, including three shirts on April 15, and also DVDs, CDs, batteries and food at 3.45am on April 16, at Tesco, at Catterick.

Tristan had also planned a holiday to Central and South America at the end of May, and had paid for his flights.

No further transactions from his account were made after April 16, nor were any calls made from his mobile phone. Tristan had never gone missing before and did not leave a note.

His house also showed no evidence that he planned to go away.

Mr Fell said there was also no evidence of any history of Tristan threatening to self-harm.

"All the evidence is of him entering the River Nidd on or about April 16," he said.

"But I have no evidence to suggest how or why he ended up in the River Nidd.

"It seemed to me the purchases he made are not indicative of someone who intended to take his own life. I would say quite the contrary.

"Because there is no evidence to conclude how he entered the River Nidd, I return an open verdict."

Updated: 09:58 Tuesday, September 06, 2005