Pensioner, 92, died after getting stuck in an ‘incredibly boggy field’ while out on his regular walk, inquest hears

A 92-year-old man died after becoming ‘stuck in mud’ on his regular walking route just days after Christmas, an inquest heard.

William Morris Jones, a retired groundsman, set out on a routine walk around his hometown in Criccieth, north Wales, on the afternoon of December 28 last year. 

But just a few hours later the 92-year-old was reported missing to the local police force. 

With appeals for his whereabouts circulating on social media, Mr Jones was last seen walking near Mynydd Ednyfed Country House on Caernarfon Road at around 2.15pm the same day.

The pensioner’s body was discovered more than a day later in an ‘incredibly boggy’ nearby field where he is believed to have become ‘stuck in mud’.

Mr Jones’s time of death was confirmed to have been at 6.04pm on 29 December – the day after he set out on his walk, a police inspector said. 

The 92-year-old had set out on a route he had walked ‘regularly’ in his native Criccieth in north Wales

An inquest into his death was opened this week in Caernarfon, north Wales.

Assistant Coroner Sarah Riley said: ‘He was found in a field which was extremely boggy and waterlogged.

‘It appears he became stuck in mud while crossing the field. 

‘The route was one he would normally take, but conditions at the time were extremely difficult to pass.’

An autopsy performed by a pathologist listed tentative causes of Mr Jones’s death as bronchopneumonia and hypothermia.

Ms Riley adjourned the inquest into the death until further investigations are complete.