The mystery of a man who went missing nine years ago has been partially solved after he was found dead - having lived under a new name for years.
A highly publicised investigation was launched after Robert Hoagland disappeared from Newtown, Connecticut, US, in 2013.
Police were called to check in on him after he failed to pick up his wife at JFK airport in New York on July 29.
His medication, wallet and mobile phone had been left at home and he hadn't been at work that day.
He was last seen the day before at a petrol station in Newtown with CCTV capturing him smiling in the store. He left behind him his wife and three sons in their 20s.
The case caught national attention but no further trace of him was found and his credit card wasn't used again since July 28 2013.
A documentary about Hoagland's disappearance aired on Investigation Discovery titled “Disappeared: A Family Man”.
This led to tips on reported sightings across the country but none could be verified.
Six months after Hoagland's disappearance, an investigator said: “He could literally be anywhere.”
The trail went cold until Monday December 5 when a man in Rock Hill, New York State, going by Richard King had a medical emergency.
His roommate called 911 but by the time emergency services arrived, the man had died.
Further investigation found out that Richard King had paperwork with the name Robert Hoagland on it and the nine year mystery began to unravel.
Newtown Police Detective Lt. Liam Seabrook said: “The detectives learned that Robert Hoagland had been living in Sullivan County since around November 2013 and was using the name Richard King."
The roommate knew the man as Richard King.
While in Rock Hill, Hoagland stayed under the radar. He got in no trouble with the law and seemed to live an ordinary life.
Undersheriff Eric Chaboty, of the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office, said: “He was living under the radar."
Lt. Seabrook and the Newtown Police Department sent their condolences to Hoagland's family
Hoagland did not get in trouble with the law in Rock Hill, which is a hamlet in the town of Thompson, Chaboty said. The town, which has a population of about 17,000, sits at the base of the Catskill Mountains.
“He was living under the radar,” he said. The precise cause of Hoagland's death is pending further study by the coroner's office.
Seabrook said Wednesday the Newtown Police Department sends its condolences to Hoagland's family and friends.
He also said: “The family requests that their privacy be respected during this difficult time.
“The police department does not plan to release any further information as there was no criminal aspect to Robert Hoagland's disappearance.”
Questions were also left unanswered about why Hoagland left his family and how he ended up in Rock Hill.
Chaboty said: "That's a great mystery."
