In July 2015, Derek's family announced that he had been missing for three weeks, appealing for information related to his whereabouts. Police confirmed that he had not used his bank account since the beginning of July, and could not have gone abroad as he had no passport. He was last seen leaving the Criterion pub in St Pauls shortly after midnight on 11 July; later that morning his
bus pass was used on a bus to
Thornbury, north of Bristol.
Daddy G of
Massive Attack, who described Derek as a "walking musical encyclopedia", played a club night in Bristol to raise funds for a search. In December 2015, Derek's family said that a man matching his description had been seen fleeing a pub in Thornbury following an altercation;
Avon and Somerset Police said that their investigations into his disappearance were continuing. Later in December, an image taken in London of a man resembling Derek was publicised. While his family noted an "uncanny" resemblance, Avon and Somerset Police later announced that they had located and spoken to the man photographed, and confirmed that he was not Derek. Derek's family began an application for
presumed death in March 2016. On 10 March 2016, human remains were found in
undergrowth near The Mall,
Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, and on 16 March, were confirmed to be those of DJ Derek. Shortly after his remains were discovered, Bristol police said they were not treating his death as suspicious. ==Tributes==