Recluse who died and wasn't found for weeks in Napier identified

The area where recluse Neville Robinson is believed to have died from natural causes.

Police have released the name of a man thought to have been dead several weeks before he was found in a vehicle where he lived on a property in Napier's Corunna Bay Industrial District.

The man was 78-year-old Neville Edward Robinson who was found on Monday. Police said later there were no suspicious circumstances and the matter had been referred to a coroner.

The man lived at a property occupied by Bay Rebores and is understood to have worked for some time as a diesel mechanic.

Approached yesterday by Hawke's Bay Today, business proprietor Tony Moore declined to comment and would not say if he knew of any relatives of the dead man.

Police said they were unaware of any relatives living in the Napier area.

The death sparked further concern from police and welfare agencies about the need for people to be alert to the needs of elderly people living alone, especially if they hadn't been seen for a few days.

The man, described by a police officer as a "recluse by choice", was estimated to have been dead more than a month, in what was the fourth similar case police have been involved with in the Napier-Hastings area in the last six months.