The remains of a Swansea man who had been missing for more than 20 years were stumbled upon by a resident while tending to their garden, an inquest opening has heard.
Russell Scozzi, who was last spotted at Swansea’s Quadrant bus station, vanished in May 2002, and in March 2003 South Wales Police opened a missing person’s file in his name.
On Wednesday, an inquest opening at Swansea’s Guildhall heard how officers had routinely reviewed his case throughout the years following his disappearance, yet Mr Scozzi, whose age was given as 64 at the brief hearing, could not be traced.
The inquest heard how on April 6, 2023, a resident of Waverley Place in Mumbles was clearing overgrown brambles and weeds when they came across skeletal remains in a wooded area next to their house. Blue sheeting and items of clothing were also found at the scene.
The resident alerted police, and officers attended alongside CID colleagues and a forensic archaeologist. A series of searches were subsequently carried out to ensure all remains had been recovered, reports Wales Online.
Mr Scozzi was later identified through his dental records, the inquest heard. A post-mortem examination returned an unascertained medical cause of death, and senior coroner Aled Gruffydd adjourned the inquest until July 23.
In the year preceding his disappearance, Mr Scozzi had relinquished his well-paid IT position with a multinational firm without offering any explanation. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
Mr Scozzi, who was from the West Cross area of Swansea, had travelled extensively to the likes of Bali and Australia over the years and spoke both German and French fluently, but when he disappeared he’d left his passport and wallet behind, which his sister Daniella Scozzi said was very unusual.
What troubled the family most deeply was that Mr Scozzi had made no effort whatsoever to get in touch with his children, which Ms Scozzi said was entirely unlike him.
She revealed that she had presumed him dead seven years after his disappearance. Speaking to WalesOnline prior to the discovery of his remains, she said: “It’s a really weird situation. I almost feel like I’m talking about somebody else, like a character from a book.
“It’s the only way I can deal with it because once I start thinking about it, you get so many different feelings of guilt, fear, sadness – there’s so many different emotions and none of them are good.
“The way I deal with it is to talk about it as if I’m almost talking about a character. A year ago I was walking around and a man walked past me and I thought: ‘He looks familiar.’ I walked around and I bumped into him again, and it suddenly hit me that he looked exactly like my brother and for a minute I thought it was him.
“This was like 19 years later. I say I do not look for him, but I think subconsciously I do. But the way I deal with it is I talk about it as if it’s not really my brother.” Join the North Wales Live WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone
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