THE heartbroken mum of Marcus Shaw thanked the police for their efforts to try to find the popular dad-of-four after his disappearance sparked a huge search operation. 

Pauline Shaw issued a heartfelt thank you to police search advisor John O'Shea, who was at the centre of the hunt to trace the HGV driver, during an inquest into Marcus' death at Warrington Coroner's Court last Wednesday, June 21.

The 43-year-old, who at the time of his death had four children aged four to 27, was reported missing by his concerned family on January 14.

But four days later on January 18, Marcus' body was discovered by a member of the public in woodland near to Mag Lane in Lymm at around 3pm.

While many questions still remain unanswered into his death, the Coroner for Cheshire Alan Moore ruled that Marcus died as a result of suicide.

He said: "The law does not require a coroner to answer the question in a suicide case of 'why'.

"That is not part of my legal duty and that's a good job as I must say it's an impossible question to answer – even when we have heard all the evidence.

"That's because if we ask the question 'why' we will never know the answer."

The inquest heard how Marcus, of Keswick Avenue, Orford, had struggled with depression in previous years but he was looking forward to the future as he had a job interview lined up for the week he went missing.

His mum Pauline added: "He seemed fine. We had been to a party on the Friday night so he said he was fragile.

"He seemed perfectly normal to me."

His partner of two years Joanne Lyne recalled how Marcus, who was described as the 'life and soul of the party', had been laughing and joking during the final moments they shared together at around midday on the day he went missing.

She said: “He was fine. He was laughing at me having a hangover.

“He said he was going out to get his hair cut.”

But Marcus never returned home and Mr Moore told his family there was no way of them knowing of Marcus' intentions or the exact date of his death.

He said: “We will never know why and there is no way his family could have seen what Marcus was planning to do.”

If you are struggling with mental health issues and need someone to talk to call Samaritans on 116123.