In Australia my great great grandfather vanished and no one could find him in 1886. When his wife died in 1918 she was registered as a widow of many years so we knew he was dead, just not how or where the death had occurred. I found a certificate for unknown male washed up in Wentworth , N.S.W. Checked the Police Gazette in South Australia as they had published a missing person report 6 weeks before the body was found and found him there with a correction from unknown male to Robert Edwards and classed as suicide. He was employed by a South Australian River Boat Company, fell or jumped off boat in Victorian water but washed up other side of river on New South Wales Side. He remained a problem for all his life it seems. Do police gazettes exist in the Uk? Perhaps you could try those if they do. Cheers, Rhonda Williams Sent from my iPad