Body of boy, 13, found in sea

A boy's body has been found at Matauri Bay after he disappeared from a State-supervised camping trip.
The 13-year-old boy, Otis Auelua, of Otara in Auckland, went missing while in Child Youth and Family care last Thursday but The Northern Advocate understands his disappearance was not reported to police for several days.
The boy's body was recovered from the sea at Matauri Bay about 6pm on Wednesday. He was believed to have been at a camp with a group of other children in CYF care.
Child Youth and Family has confirmed the boy was in CYF care and along with police is investigating the boy's death.
It appeared the boy's body had been in the sea for several days and was in the advanced stages of decomposition, police officer in charge of the Bay of Islands Senior Sergeant Mike Pannett said.
Mr Pannett said it appeared the teenager had fallen from cliffs near the Rainbow Warrior Memorial in Matauri Bay and drowned.
"From inquiries made it appears that the youth had gone missing from an organised camp in Matauri Bay on Thursday, December 9," Mr Pannett said.
However, The Northern Advocate understands it was several days after his disappearance before police were informed.
Mr Pannett declined to comment on that.
A Far North coroner has been informed of the death and a post mortem is being undertaken with the help of experts from Auckland, he said.
Following the recovery of the body cultural matters have been addressed and local hapu informed, Mr Pannett said.
Otis' aunt, Phyllis Wynyard, said the family was in shock and angry. She described Otis as "troubled" but said he would do anything to help his family.
A CYF spokeswoman, Jenny Alexander, confirmed Otis was in CYF care at the time of his death.
"We have no further information about this very tragic event. We are supporting the (boy's) family," she said. "We can't comment further until we have all the information."
Te Tai Tokerau MP Dover Samuels, who lives at Matauri Bay, said he would take up the matter of the boy's death while in State care with Associate Minister for Social Development Ruth Dyson who is in charge of CYF.
Mr Samuels said he wanted to know why - if it was the case -the disappearance was not immediately reported to police, and what sort of structures were in place at the camp to handle such situations.
"The coast along Matauri Bay can be very treacherous if you are not familiar with it," he said.
A spokeswoman for Ms Dyson said the minister could not comment on the case until all the facts were known.