Charles Francis Owens

Charles Francis Owens was found dead in a canal at Coven, Wolverhampton on 24 March 1984.

An open verdict was returned at his inquest.

Charles Owens had lived at Fieldhead Place in Tettenhall and had gone missing the day before he was found in the canal near to Compton Road.

His inquest found that he died from cardiac arrest following immersion. However, it was also said that he had died from drowning.

Further, it was noted that he had a mark on his temple, but it could not be said whether that had contributed to his death.

His daughter said that her mother was paralysed after a stroke and that she was totally dependent on Charles Owens and that Charles Owens would never leave her.

She said that she last saw him the day before his body was found when he left the house saying that he was going for a walk, noting that he had seemed perfectly all right.

When the Coroner summed up, he noted that Charles Owens had been suffering from depression because of his wife's illness and that there was no evidence to suggest that he had entered the canal deliberately, and that it was impossible to say how he came to enter the water.