Leverington man Arvydas Petrauskas whose body was found in Wisbech’s River Nene was worried about social media posts

A Leverington man, whose body was found in a river after he went missing, was worried about "social media posts" about him prior to his death, a coroner has found.

Arvydas Petrauskas was found drowned in River Nene at the Port of Wisbech on the morning of April 3 - two weeks after he went missing - an inquest heard.

The 31-year-old, of Mountbatten Drive, was confirmed dead shortly past 1pm, and a post-mortem examination confirmed he had drowned.

Simon Milburn, area coroner for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, said it remains unclear how Mr Petrauskas, who could not swim, entered the water, but it was likely he did so on March 20.

The coroner told how Mr Petrauskas, a multi-skilled engineer, had returned to the UK from Holland in December last year and settled in Wisbech, where he had family and lived in shared accommodation.

Mr Milburn said: “Arvydas was known to struggle with alcohol abuse and with his mental health. He had not been receiving formal help either prior to his death, but had requested medication from his GP and had discussed making an appointment to see his GP with his father.

“Arvydas was last seen by his father on March 19. Arvydas was shaking and feeling unwell, most likely as a consequence of alcohol withdrawal. They discussed getting Arvydas help for his alcohol issue. Later that day Arvydas responded to some texts from his father. He was last seen alive by a housemate on the morning of March 20.”

The coroner told how Mr Petrauskas’ car was seen parked on Malvern Gardens in Wisbech near the River Nene on March 20.

“There is some evidence that Arvydas had recent suicidal thoughts and may historically have attempted self-harm. Arvydas had not mentioned anything of this nature to his father on March 19, although he was clearly struggling”, Mr Milburn said.

“He had also been distressed about the content of some social media posts about him in the period leading up to his death”, Mr Milburn added. The coroner did not elaborate on what those social media posts had said.

The coroner added Mr Petrauskas had taken a significant quantity of an antidepressant medication, which he had not been prescribed, prior to his death and said this may have affected his cognition.

Mr Milburn returned a narrative conclusion which stated the deceased, initially of Lithuania, had “drowned having entered the River Nene although exactly how this happened cannot be established”.