Julie Stephen is demanding answers after her husband Sean, 38, was found dead inside a toilet cubicle at Edinburgh's City Chambers, the city council's headquarters, nearly a week after he entered the building. Sean had complained of feeling unwell and was on the phone with his wife before going into the toilets on July 1.
After failing to reach him later that day, Julie reported him missing. However, his body was not discovered until July 7. Julie told The Daily Record: 'There's CCTV footage of him on the phone to me walking up the Royal Mile and into the council building. He was healthy but said he was feeling dizzy and sick. He said he was going to get a taxi. I came off the phone when he was going to go to the toilet. That was the last time I spoke to him.'
Julie expressed her frustration that no one had entered the toilet for six days, questioning how security guards, cleaners, and reception staff had missed him. She said: 'How’s no one has been in that toilet for six days, it baffles me. Could he have been saved? These are questions which will be in my head for the rest of my life.' She posted a picture of Sean online with the caption: 'Shame on Edinburgh Council. Left you inside their building for a week. You could’ve been saved.'
The couple had been married since 2019. Julie said she called 999 that evening but was told Sean could not be reported missing due to his age. She said: 'We spent a week looking for him and put flyers in shops. We were two minutes away from him, we didn’t expect him to be in a locked building. When they found him his body was so decomposed. I couldn’t even see his body. I had to give his toothbrush for DNA.'
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'At 9.20pm on Tuesday, 1 July, 2025 we received a report of concern for a 38-year-old man in the Edinburgh area who failed to make a pre-arranged appointment. Enquiries were carried out to trace him and he was traced deceased on Monday, 7 July in the High Street area of Edinburgh.' A council spokesperson added: 'We’re continuing to assist Police Scotland with their inquiries and can’t comment any further at this stage.'
A GoFundMe page has been set up by friend Adele Ford to cover funeral costs for the 'loving gentle giant'. Adele said: 'He was born and bred in the Southside area of Edinburgh and was well known by a lot of people. We are absolutely devastated that he was found dead, unexplained.'
