When Tahadesse Kahsai walked out of Calvary Hospital and disappeared in December last year, police searched a surrounding two-kilometre radius of air, ground and water.
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On Saturday, three months after he went missing, the remains of Mr Kahsai's body were found in a patch of bushland in Bruce three kilometres from the hospital door.
Now Mr Kahsai's family is demanding answers. First, as to how a 61-year-old man who was reportedly agitated, disoriented and possibly hallucinating was permitted to leave the hospital unopposed. And why it took more than 24 hours for authorities to begin a search after he went missing.
"The family is calling for a full inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death including the role of the hospital in not preventing him from leaving when he was in great distress, disorientated, unsteady on his feet, and clearly at the time a danger to himself," his family said in a statement.
"An inquiry should also consider the adequacy of the police search, why there were significant time delays in looking for him, and why the ground search conducted four weeks after he went missing was restricted to only two kilometres when hospital staff estimated he could have walked up to five kilometres."
Mr Kahsai had been admitted to the hospital suffering from alcohol withdrawal.
On December 30 last year, he is believed to have told a wardsman he was leaving and "not coming back" and as a voluntary patient could not be restrained.
CCTV captured Mr Kahsai leaving the hospital, possibly with car keys in his hand.
Hospital security later combed the grounds but found no sign of him.
His daughter Rezina Kahsai said an email from the hospital to the AFP "went astray", meaning it was 26 hours before a search began.
In that time, she said her father's doctor estimated he could have walked up to five kilometres in spite of his "poor" condition.
Without his medication, he may have suffered a fit which could have caused him to fall and fatally knock his head, she said.
Police used the dog squad, divers and a helicopter to search the two kilometres of bushland surrounding the hospital in late January but Ms Kahsai said they had exhausted all of their leads.
Mr Kahsai emigrated to Canberra from war-torn Eritrea in the late 1970s. He graduated from ANU, became an Australian citizen and taught at a high school in Dickson.
Ms Kahsai said her father was well known in the Canberra community and always was looking for ways to "give back". He worked with the Eritrean Embassy and also used to part-own and manage Club Asmara in Bunda Street.
"The family of Tad Kahsai are deeply saddened and shocked by his loss confirmed by police yesterday following the discovery of his body in a grassland area in Bruce on Saturday."
Arrangements are being made for Mr Kahsai's funeral to be held next week.
ACT Police said the circumstances of his death are being investigated and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
