Parents of man lost at sea won't leave Auckand's Bethells Beach until his body is found

Thursday, 28 March 2019

The family of a man who was swept out to sea after he rescued two people have vowed to keep vigil at the beach where he disappeared until his body is found.

Pesamino Joshua Tovio, 34, his partner and a friend's son were swimming at Auckland's Bethells Beach on March 21 when they got caught in a rip current.

Tovio, known better as Mino, managed to deliver the pair back to the shore safety, but ran out of energy before he could save himself.

Ben Pesamino Tevasa Tovio, father of 34-year-old Pesamino 'Mino' Joshua Tovio has not left the beach since his son went missing on March 21.

The family, originally from Tokelau, set up camp near the lifeguard tower on the beach near Te Henga on the day he went missing and have not left the beach since.

* Search continues for father missing after being swept out to sea at Bethells Beach**

'Me and my wife are going to stay there until we find our son,' Mino's father Ben Pesamino Tevasa Tovio said.

The family have waited on the beach - day and night - for a week, undeterred by an empty BBQ gas bottle and rainfall on Wednesday night.

'I always told him not to come here, I never brought them here,' Tovio said.

'I never encouraged him to come over to this beach.'

Although devastated to lose his son, Tovio said he was proud he had put others before himself.

'Deep inside my heart he's a hero because he did a good thing.

The Tovio family are camping out at Bethells Beach, waiting on the retrieval of their family member's body.

'He took his own life to save somebody else.'

Mino Tovio, a concrete truck operator, would do anything to help people, whether they were friends or strangers, Tovio said.

'He always brought people home to feed them and give them some clothes.'

Tovio sometimes couldn't find his own clothes and suspected Mino had given them to those in trouble.

'Even if he's got nothing in his pocket. He would give whatever he could find at home. He's a good boy.'

Tovio said his son would be remembered for always putting his friends first. A literal example being when he let two friends take first and second place during a running race at high school, meaning they would advance to the national level.

Tovio said the main focus was on the younger members of the family, especially Mino's children Filipo Tovio and Aaliya Ofeira who, both 16, were 'taking it [the loss of their father] hard'.

Filipo, who lives in Australia, flew over straight away after hearing the news. He has since had to return to take part in a rugby league competition.

'He was very sad to see where his dad passed away,' Tovio said.

Although sad, Aaliya was happy her father died doing 'something good'.

'She is proud of what he had done.'

Tovio was grateful for the support they had received from Auckland Council, which had allowed them to stay on the beach, to Bethells Beach Surf Lifesaving Club, which lent them tents and marquees, and to residents who provided them with 'big breakfasts' everyday.

Police were in regular communication and told them to stay hopeful his body would be found, he said.

Over the weekend, an extensive search of the area on foot and by air on the Eagle helicopter was carried out, a police spokeswoman said.

The local Surf Living Saving club had also helped with the search.