Police divers have uncovered the body of a man who went
missing in the flooded Whanganui River last Saturday.
Duane Kaka, 34, was swept away as he tried to swim across the
river while on a group canoeing trip on January 14.
Police said family members spotted his submerged body about
1km downstream from the Mangapurua landing while carrying out
a boat search about 4.50pm yesterday.
Mr Kaka's family had been keeping up daily boat searches
since Thursday, after police, alpine rescuers, search and
rescue volunteers and local tour boat operators were unable
to find his body.
Police said the location of Mr Kaka's body had made it unsafe
to recover without additional expertise, so the police
national dive squad was called in.
The body was recovered this morning, about 16km to 17km
downstream from where Mr Kaka went missing.
His family earlier released a statement saying they had
accepted his death and just wanted to be able to take his
body home.
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