Body of missing Auckland fisherman found five months after his disappearance

Friday, 22 January 2021

The body of a fisherman who went missing from a south Auckland beach in August 2020 has been found.

The body was found washed up on the beach on Ponui Island, near Waiheke in the Hauraki Gulf over the weekend.

Detective senior sergeant Tom Gollan said the body was found by a member of the public around midday last Saturday.

The body was identified as John Planas, a 33-year-old man who is originally from the Philippines and had been living in Auckland.

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Planas had been kayak fishing off Duder Regional Park on August 30, 2020 and never returned.

Gollan said his family in the Philippines had been informed about his death.

The death had also been referred to the coroner.

Ponui Island is a privately owned island, inhabited by only a handful of people.

It is a popular site for youth camps for organisations such as the Scouts.

Also known as Chamberlin's Island, it consists of three farms, which are predominantly used for sheep.

It is also the home of New Zealand's only feral donkey breed, the Ponui donkey.