Update: Body recovered from lake (+video)

By Mike Watson

Rotorua Daily Post·

26 Nov, 2014 08:36 PM7 mins to read

William Rouppe van der Voort. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Police have confirmed the body of 24-year-old William Van Der Voort has been found and recovered from Lake Rotorua.

His body has been retrieved from Lake Rotorua by the Police National Dive Squad this afternoon.

Divers located him in approximately 3m of water, about 500m from shore.

An investigation is ongoing into the cause of the accident, but police have confirmed that none of the five men on board the boat before it sank were wearing life jackets.

As we head into summer, police cannot stress enough the importance of adhering to the basic rules of boating whenever you head out onto the water, police said.

Police said it was extremely important not to be lulled into a full sense of security just because the weather conditions appear calm.

Earlier:

It is reported that a body has been recovered from Lake Rotorua.

Setford News Agency has reported that a body has been recovered from the lake.

Police have not yet confirmed whether this is the body of Rotorua man William Rouppe van der Voort, 24, who went missing around 5.45pm yesterday.

Earlier:

A "mates' good day out" on Lake Rotorua quickly turned to tragedy for five friends after their boat capsized and one of the group was reported missing, presumed drowned.

Coastguard and the Police Dive Squad are continuing the search for Rotorua man William Rouppe van der Voort, 24, who went missing around 5.45pm yesterday.

Today, his fishing friends said they had little time to try and save him before he quickly disappeared under the choppy surface.

No lifejackets were onboard the boat as it took in water and capsized around 500m offshore from Ngongotaha.

One of the men said the group, all in their mid 20s, had decided to go out fishing late in the afternoon after checking the "glassy" lake conditions.

"We thought it was so calm so why not go out.

"We launched near my parents' house and mucked around in the inlet before we decided it was safe enough to go out into the lake.

"We checked we had plenty of freeboard."

Within about 15 minutes the wind got up and the surface became increasingly choppy, he said.

"The weather was like a monster, it was crazy out of control wind."

"We started to head in really slowly, less than 5 knots, and first it was a cup of water in the boat, then a bucket then the boat capsized.

Friends and family of the missing man wait on the shore at Lake Rotorua this morning Photo/Ben Fraser

"We tried to get the boat in but it was sinking like the Titanic. "

Two of the men stayed with the overturned hull while Mr Rouppe van der Voort and two others swam towards the shore, using emptied gas tanks from the boat for flotation.

As they were swimming one of the men looked back to see Mr Rouppe van der Voort struggling.

"He had gone quiet, I looked back and saw his face turn grey and then blank, then saw him go under.

"I don't think even if we were all around him we would have been able to save him, he sunk so quickly."

A boatie on shore heard their cries for help and launched his boat to rescue the four men.

Coastguard spent several hours on the lake last night searching unsuccessfully for Mr Rouppe van der Voort.

His mother, Julie, said she believed her youngest son, an epileptic, had a 'grand mal' seizure as he was swimming to shore.

Police alerted her last night that her son was missing.

"It's just like the movies, you have someone knocking on the door, but it's for you this time," she said.

She and Mr Rouppe van der Voort's elder brother, Carl, and his dog Ice, were at the Reeme St boat ramp this morning.

"If he had not had the seizure he would have been able to swim to shore.

"He would have died peacefully, he would not have heard or seen anything when he had the seizure," she said.

She said her son, an apprentice builder, was a strong swimmer and enjoyed the outdoors.

"He loved creating things and would go out of his way to help his friends, he loved his mates.

"He was on a mates' good day out.

"He was a good guy, confident in the water, he knew his limits.

"He was under medication but he would not have thought he would have a seizure in the water."

Mrs Rouppe van der Voort met up with the four friends late last night.

They had discharged themselves from hospital after being treated for hypothermia.

"When the weather got up the men said they thought they were on the open sea, not a lake," Carl Rouppe van der Voort said.

"It didn't take long, within 20 minutes they were gone with every wave."

Mrs Rouppe van der Voort said she found a stored text message on her son's cellphone this morning.

"It read 'Happy birthday today Mum, love you heaps, always will," she said.
"That was William, he loved his family, his friends and life."

Earlier:

The mother of a Rotorua man missing on Lake Rotorua says she suspects her son had an epileptic seizure while trying to swim for shore.

William Rouppe van der Voort, 24, went fishing with his flatmates around 5pm last night, his mother Julie Rouppe van der Voort said.

The lake was "like glass" so none of the men had lifejackets. Her son was a strong swimmer and all the men were experienced on the lake, she said.

She said she understood the lake began to get choppy so the men decided to head into shore, however about 500m from land their aluminium dinghy capsized.

Two men stayed with the boat while three, including her son, started to swim for shore.
Mrs Rouppe van der Voort said she believed her son, an epileptic, must have suffered a seizure while swimming.

It all happened within about 20 minutes, she said.

Mrs Rouppe van der Voort said she spoke to the rescued men late last night about what happened, after they left hospital.

Coastguard resumed the search for Mr Rouppe van der Voort at first light this morning. The Police National Dive Squad is expected to join the search later this morning.

Rotorua coastguard search for the missing man on Lake Rotorua this morning Photo/Ben Fraser

Earlier:

A search resumed at first light this morning for a Rotorua man missing on Lake Rotorua after a boat he was in sank last night.

The Coastguard is undertaking the search and the Police National Dive Squad is heading to the area.

Police have been able to establish that five local men were in an aluminium dingy when it got into trouble at approximately 5.45pm.

Witnesses say the vessel was about 500 metres from shore at the time, but work is ongoing to establish its exact location, police said.

The missing man is in his 20s and from Rotorua.

Police say they are liaising with his family and no further details about him will be released at this stage.

Police are still working to establish exactly what equipment the men had with them at the time of the incident but it is understood the missing man was not wearing a lifejacket.

Four people have been rescued from a boat on Lake Rotorua with one person believed missing. Credit:SNPA / Peter Graney

Earlier story: A man is missing after an incident on Lake Rotorua yesterday.

Ngongotaha locals called police reporting what appeared to be a boat in trouble about 5.45pm.

Police said a local resident responded to the emergency by going out in his own vessel to effect a rescue. He discovered that a group of five people had ended up in the water after their boat had been swamped and sunk.

The local resident successfully rescued four of the five but the remaining man could not be located.

Two Coastguard boats searched the area where the missing man was last seen. The others were all taken to Rotorua Hospital by ambulance and treated for hypothermia.

Police said the search for the missing man has been suspended for the night and would resume this morning.

Earlier NZME. reported that a St John Ambulance spokesman said they received a call just after 6pm. Four people were rescued from a boat on Lake Rotorua and brought back to a wharf to a waiting ambulance. The patients were status three to status four - with moderate to minor injuries.

They were transported to Rotorua Hospital about 7pm.

No further details were available.