The parents of an 18-year-old Nelson man who had been missing after attending a music festival in Seattle are "absolutely devastated" by the news his body has been found, a family spokesman says.
Wynter Emerson's body was recovered from Seattle's Lake Union on Sunday morning local time.
He had been missing since attending the Bumbershoot music festival in Seattle on September 1 and was travelling through America and Canada on his own.
Wynter's parents Ally and Shon Emerson had been in regular contact with Wynter right up until his disappearance, but became worried after not hearing from him for about four days, family spokesman Peter Crighton said.
"As you do as a parent you think that, 'oh, they're busy they're doing things they'll get back in touch' and unfortunately that wasn't the case.
"Shon and Ally were only aware the day before yesterday that things had really gone wrong," Mr Crighton said.
"They're devastated, absolutely devastated. As we know, and I think Ally posted on her Facebook, it's a parent's worst nightmare when your child goes missing.
"And of course that worst nightmare ended up in the worst possible scenario when they were advised this morning that police had found his body."
The former Nayland College student was a few months into a gap year before starting university next year, Mr Crighton said.
His wallet was found after he was reported missing and was later handed into police, Mr Crighton said.
A Facebook page set up to help find Wynter said he may have been slipped drugs.
Seattle Detective Patrick Michaud said Wynter's body was found around 10.30am on Sunday local time and later positively identified.
"At 10.30am in the morning we got the call that there was a body in the lake...our harbour units went out there and they were able to locate ... Wynter."
There was no suggestion of foul play and the medical examiner was determining the cause of death, he said.
It was too early to tell how long Wynter had been in the lake, he said.
Lake Union was near to where the Bumbershoot music festival had been held.
"Based on the missing person's report his friend was trying to take him home, at which point he kind of hopped out of the car and was never seen again.
"His friend was worried so he did call police, but they weren't able to locate him until yesterday morning."
It was possible Wynter had been under the influence of drugs when he left the car of his friend, who was a Seattle local, but police were awaiting a toxicology report to determine whether drugs were involved, Mr Michaud said.
Seattle police first received a missing person's report last Friday, he said.
"It's just a tragedy, it's sad to see anybody drown or die in the city and I wish it could have been avoided, but at this point it's just our job to figure out why and how."
A donation page on PayPal has been set up to help Wynter's family bring his body home.
By Brendan Manning of APNZ
