The questions that might never be answered over son's death »

The New York Police Department had the information which could have identified the body of Richard Massey, 27, after it was discovered in the River Hudson in March 2003.

That never happened and the computer programmer was buried in a pauper's grave, leaving his family unaware of whether he was alive or dead.

Yesterday, they were finally able to lay him to rest in Doncaster, but that was only after his sister Katie employed a lawyer who traced his body immediately.

She took the action after a legal hearing earlier this year when officials admitted the superficial nature of their inquiries.

The discovery brought to an end years of anxiety about Mr Massey's fate for his parents Margaret and Brian, but has left a question about the cause of his death which is likely to remain unanswered because of the time-gap.

Miss Massey said police had been dismissive of the case, suggesting her brother, who was working in New York, might have left for a holiday.

"Their attitude was that he was 27 years old, had no history of mental illness and that he was not vulnerable. They said there were no suspicious circumstances like blood in his apartment and they were really not interested. It was a very difficult time for us and they just didn't seem bothered," she said.

"At the hearing when the New York Police Department took the stand, under oath it came out that they had not really done anything. They had not checked bodies.

"My mother's worst nightmare was that he would end up unidentified and buried on his own. We were told that would not happen, but it did."

Mr Massey vanished on December 19, 2002, after telephoning relatives to make arrangements for a Christmas trip home.

His body was recovered from the river on March 5 the following year, but the American authorities never made the link between that and the missing person investigation. As a result, Mr Massey was buried in the pauper's grave in July that year, leaving relatives in the UK to continue searching for information.

Despite using private detectives in the UK and US, those inquiries failed and this summer his family went to court in America to try to get a death certificate issued to help wind up his affairs. It was there that they discovered the limit of the police inquiries.

As a result, Mr Massey's sister employed lawyer Susanne Gennusa who traced his body after providing basic information to the Medical Examiner's Office in New York.

DNA checks were needed before Mr Massey's remains could be released from the US and more were conducted at the forensic science laboratory at Wetherby to satisfy the UK authorities.

A funeral was authorised and was held at the Church of St Peter in Chains in Doncaster. Now an inquest will be held in the town to investigate the death.

Relatives have been told an option for the coroner would be to ask British police to launch inquiries into how he died.

An autopsy conducted after his body was recovered, gave inconclusive results although there were no obvious external injuries.

The family have not yet contacted NYPD about the case, but plan to do so in the New Year.