British diplomat's cause of death remains 'unascertained' following post-mortem
A British diplomat's cause of death remains "unascertained" following a post-mortem, his inquest heard.
Richard Morris, the UK’s former ambassador to Nepal, was last seen running near his home in Bentley, Hampshire, on the morning of May 6.
Following a major search operation, the 52-year-old's body was found by a member of the public at Alice Holt Forest, less than three miles from his property, on Aug 31.
However, a post-mortem examination has failed to illuminate what happened to the father of three.
Christopher Wilkinson, senior coroner for Hampshire, told the inquest on Sept 23 that a medical cause of death is "unascertained".
The inquest was adjourned until June 2021 for further evidence to be gathered.
At the time of his disappearance, Mr Morris was classed as "high risk" by Hampshire Constabulary, which had a team of around 50 specially-trained search and rescuer officers with tracker dogs and drones searching for him.
When his body was discovered, police said they were not treating the death as suspicious.
Mr Morris had a distinguished career at the Foreign Office, which began in 1990 and saw him posted to Barbados, Canada, New York, Sydney and Mexico City.
His most recent posting was a five-year stint as ambassador to Nepal, where he arrived in 2015, just after a devastating earthquake had claimed 9,000 lives in the region.
In 2016, he hosted the Duke of Sussex during his official tour of the Himalayan nation.
Mr Morris had been due to take up a role as Britain's High Commissioner to Fiji from July.
He was also a prominent advocate for Changing Faces, a charity supported by The Telegraph, which aims to challenge and break down the stigma for people with visible physical differences.
A family statement released at the time of his death described Mr Morris as "funny, kind and smart".
It added: "Above all else, Richard was a family man. A loving and loyal husband, father, son and brother. He showed us the world but he was our world and we are devastated by his loss."
