Missing man Geoffrey Robert Hay declared deceased nearly a decade after house fire

A recluse who disappeared after a house fire nearly a decade ago, with no trace of him ever found, has finally been declared deceased. FULL STORY >>

A RECLUSE who disappeared after a house fire in 2013, with no trace of him ever found, has finally been declared deceased by a coroner.

The missing persons case of Geoffrey Robert Hay has long baffled investigators, with one firefighter describing the blaze at his Devonport home as “definitely the weirdest house fire I have ever been to”.

On Monday, Coroner Simon Cooper handed down his findings into Mr Hay’s presumed death, noting he was unable to determine where or how he died.

He said the 66-year-old “lived a reclusive life with limited social interaction” and was last seen walking slowly with a walking stick on his property by a neighbour on August 27, 2013.

In the early hours of August 28, emergency services responded to a blaze at his home.

“The response to the fire was hampered by the fact that the property was surrounded with high fences, the gates of which were all locked,” Mr Cooper said.

“All of the windows and doors of the house were covered with steel plates and nearby fire plugs were rendered inoperable as a result of concrete having been poured into them. The house was destroyed in the fire. There was no sign of Mr Hay.”

Once the fire was extinguished, an investigator concluded the blaze had been deliberately lit “with a view of completely destroying the property” and that “various physical impairments were in place to make the task of firefighters extinguishing the blaze difficult”.

Aftermath of the Nixon Street, Devonport, house fire in 2013.

Searches were conducted over several days during September but found nothing.

The following year, during a search for another missing person, police located Mr Hay’s burnt-out Suzuki in a bush clearing – but that it did not contain human remains.

Mr Cooper, noting Mr Hay had discussed suicide in the lead-up to his disappearance and suffered pain and mobility issues, said there had been no record or trace of him since August 2013.

Tasmania Fire Service Hazmat investigators at the site, after chemicals were found on the property.

The coroner said he had not used his bank account, and there were no records of him with Centrelink or Medicare.

“Despite an extensive media campaign, which included him featuring in Missing Persons Week, no information has been received which would help locate Mr Hay,” Mr Cooper said.

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