A man drowned in the Hutt River after possibly tripping on an untied shoelace, a coroner has found.
Brett Ramon Waiwai had been spending an evening drinking wine and talking with a friend when he was last seen on November 5 last year.
The 30-year-old man had no fixed abode, but lived between friends and family in the Lower Hutt and Petone area, a coroner's findings stated.
He had left his friend's house that night after it was getting dark, and was described as tipsy, but not drunk.
Palmerston North Coroner Carla na Nagara said at approximately 9.30pm that night, an apparently very drunk man who broadly matched Mr Waiwai's description was seen crossing the road in heavy traffic on the Waihone St Bridge. It was not, however clear if that man was Mr Waiwai, Coroner na Nagara stated.