The bereaved family of a much-loved musician are hoping to finally lay him to rest more than 10 months after his death.

Dan Venes, 31, who lived off Sturry Road in Canterbury, went missing in Margate on August 14 last year, sparking a wide-scale search by police, friends and family.

An inquest has this week revealed Dan’s body was discovered on August 28, just a fortnight after his disappearance, when it is understood he was found on a beach in France.

But it took considerable time for his body to be identified.

For more than five months, his heartbroken loved ones were not aware he had been found and continued to fruitlessly search for him.

It wasn’t until January 19 this year that his family were informed Dan’s body had been discovered last summer, about five miles from Calais.

As an inquest opened in Maidstone on Tuesday, it was revealed a post-mortem examination was unable to establish how he died.

Coroner Bina Patel confirmed that Dan was identified through dental records, but a pathologist ruled the cause of his death as “unascertained”.

Dan’s father, Jason Joiner, says it is hoped a date will soon be set for Dan’s funeral, now his body has been repatriated to the UK.

Mr Joiner, from Swalecliffe, previously described his son – who has thousands of followers on Facebook pages exhibiting his art and music – as a “brilliant” guitar player and “a lovely, caring person”.

Prior to his disappearance, Dan is believed to have been picked up at Sturry Railway Station by police due to concerns for his welfare.

He was taken to the QEQM hospital in Margate, but is thought to have left soon after.

He was last seen alive a short while later when he was captured on CCTV in Margate.

Following his disappearance, a ‘Help find Dan Venes’ page set up on Facebook amassed more than 3,500 followers, and members of the group tirelessly headed out to investigate regular possible sightings of him.

When Dan’s family were finally told in January that his body had been found in France, the group was renamed ‘Remembering Dan Venes’ and hundreds of people took to the page to express their sorrow at the news.

A full inquest - which hopes to establish the circumstances surrounding Dan’s death -is due to take place at County Hall on October 3.