Kim Mackell, who disappeared from Blackheath last December, will be buried on Wednesday, after he was finally formally identified from bones found in dense bushland.
The skeletal remains of Mr Mackell, 64, were found near Shipley Road, Blackheath, by a bushwalker on April 19.
Mr Mackell was last seen on December 16 when he was dropped at his Blackheath home by a taxi driver after spending the day at a family BBQ in Sydney.
His disappearance had sparked a widespread campaign for information, with posters circulated through Blackheath and other Upper Mountains towns and as far west as Lithgow.
His niece, Hillier Windsor, said her uncle’s disappearance had been completely out of character and he had been preparing to entertain visitors for Christmas.
Today, Mrs Windsor said while the body has been found, mystery still surrounds exactly what happened to him.
“Where his body was in the valley was very deep and it’s a bit of a mystery how he could get to an edge,” she said.
The police have said they will prepare a report, “either based on misadventure on some sort of suicide”.
At least the discovery allows the family to “grieve properly” and to move on from their “state of limbo”.
She said she will be writing a letter to local businesses “to say thank you to the community for their support and for keeping the [missing person] signs up for so long.”