The body of the man found dead in Birzebbuga in July was that of Karmenu Fino, who had gone missing from St Vincent de Paule Home two weeks before, the police said Thursday.

No foul play is suspected, the police said.

The body in an advanced stage of decomposition was found in a field near Ghar Dalam, in Birzebbuga, on 14 July, more than two weeks after Fino's disappearance.

The discovery was made at around 6.30pm, the police had said. The Zejtun police received an anonymous tip that a man was dead beneath some trees in a field.

In a statement on Thursday, the police said that DNA testing on the body resulted in a match. The DNA testing was necessary because the body found in Birzebbuga was too decomposed and could not be identified immediately.

Fino, 83, had been reported missing from the home on 28 June, and had last been seen in the Luqa area.

From the autopsy carried out, there was no evidence of any involvement of third parties, and the death is not being considered as suspicious.

Fino had gone missing on 27 June. The Police Force had published images of Fino leaving the home, as a search for the elderly man continued.

The disappearance of Karmenu Fino from St Vincent de Paul was the result of shortcomings in the standard of care provided by employees rather than a systematic failure, according to the conclusions of an internal inquiry into the case.

The conclusions were announced by Active Ageing Minister Jo Etienne Abela in a press briefing earlier this month.

The internal inquiry, conducted by retired judge Geoffrey Valencia, was triggered on 28 June, just a day after Fino had gone missing.

The man's disappearance, as well as the conclusions of the inquiry, had caused friction between the government and the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, which ordered industrial action, claiming that the suspension of the nurse on duty on the day was unjust.

In an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday on 21 August, Minister for Active Ageing Jo Etienne Abela said that the circumstances which led to Carmelo Fino’s disappearance had nothing to do with the fact that the nurse on duty lacked experience, and the minister refused to entertain the idea that the nurse was being used as a scapegoat.

In another interview published on the same day, Paul Pace, the president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurse (MUMN), said that the newly-appointed Minister for Active Ageing, Jo Etienne Abela, used nurse Rhys Xuereb as a scapegoat because the minister was only interested in “saving his political career”.