Two bodies found in search off Wairarapa coast believed to be father and son

Saturday, 11 January 2020

Police divers recovered the bodies of Darren and Joshua Southon on Saturday.

Two bodies have been recovered in the search for two divers off the Wairarapa coast and police believe they are a missing father and son.

Sergeant Tony Matheson, of Wairarapa Search and Rescue, said members of the Police National Dive Squad found the bodies on Saturday evening near Mataikona.

While formal identification hadn't taken place, police believed the two deceased were the father and son reported missing after failing to return from a snorkelling trip on Friday.

Police divers first entered the water just north of Sandy Bay at 10.45am on Saturday morning and again at 12.30pm.

Earlier in the day Matheson said a helicopter had resumed searching the water off Mataikona on Saturday along with the dive squad. The initial search did not find the pair and the dive squad began a second search about 12.30pm.

The missing pair were a father and son, part of a party of four who had gone out to the coast on a day trip from Masterton on Friday.

A local fishing boat assisted with the search for the pair.

Matheson has been reported as confirming the man was 49 and the boy was 10. But on Saturday afternoon a police media spokesperson said they were not yet in a position to confirm the ages of the pair.

A large group of family and friends of the snorkellers were at the site on Saturday.

The missing father and son were part of a group of four family members who came out from Masterton on Friday.

Search conditions were good however the wind was expected to lift later in the day.

Conditions had not been ideal for diving on Friday as the water was discoloured and waves were breaking over neighbouring reefs.

Matheson said the spot where the group went out was a popular diving area but conditions were known to regularly be murky and affected by swells. One [of the group] got out because he didn't like the conditions.

In the time it took him to get out the 40 or 50 metres [to shore] the others had disappeared from view. It was thought the missing pair were not using fins.

'We have serious concerns for the men given the time they have been missing.'

The reef where the group were collecting pāua is a popular diving area.

Matheson said the local community had been extremely helpful with their efforts to help find the two snorkellers. Commercial fishermen, the Riversdale Surf Life Saving Club, and the Castlepoint Fishing Club had all committed time and resources to the search.

The father and son duo, who were diving using snorkels, failed to return to shore near Mataikona after entering the water on Friday, just before noon.

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter started a shoreline search for the pair at 7am on Saturday.

On Friday, two helicopters, the Police's Lady Elizabeth IV boat, surf lifesavers and a large number of fishing vessels involved in a nearby fishing competition had helped in the search.

A helicopter and the Lady Elizabeth carried on the search into Friday evening before it was called off for the night around 8pm, police said.

Riversdale Surf Life Saving Club captain Mike Taylor said they had contributed an inflatable rescue boat, crew and an observer to the search.

A person involved in the Castlepoint Fishing Competition, who asked to remain anonymous, said about a dozen vessels from the competition volunteered to search for the missing people.