Body of missing teen found following Ōpoutere Beach tragedy

A body has been found during the search for a missing Hawke’s Bay teenager swept out to sea at Coromandel’s Ōpoutere Beach.

Samuel Cruickshank, 15, from Takapau in Central Hawke’s Bay, went missing on Wednesday during a swimming tragedy which also claimed the life of his father Ian Cruickshank.

Police confirmed on Saturday that a body had been found believed to be the missing teenager.

A group of seven people were seen waving their arms for help and distressed on Wednesday around 11.25am off Ōpoutere Beach.

That included Ian and Donna Cruickshank and their four children, who were holidaying in the Coromandel.

A partner of one of the daughters was also with the family and had to be airlifted to hospital following the water rescue, where he is recovering.

A Givealittle page has been created to support the Cruickshank family and it had reached $29,000 by Sunday morning.

Central Hawke’s Bay councillor and family friend, Kate Taylor, started the fundraiser and said that the “wonderful” family had been hit by tragedy.

“They are valued members of our community and this fund is to support them during the terrible weeks and months they have ahead, as they return to a home that will never be the same.

“It is no surprise that the community is coming together for them - they are active in school and church and their kids participate in a lot of things.

“[Their mother] Donna would be the first to help someone else,” she said.

“The total raised is irrelevant, it is more the expressions of support from the community and will make life perhaps a little bit easier on their return.”

A body has been found following the search off Opoutere Beach near Whangamatā. Photo / Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust

A mass search was held last week to try and find the missing teenager including with a fixed-winged aircraft as well as people along the shoreline and on the water.

Whangamatā Police Acting Senior Sergeant Will Hamilton said “a number of people, services and resources” had been involved in the search.

Last week, a longtime Ōpoutere resident said the deaths could have been prevented if his plea for lifeguard patrols there had been heeded.

Phillip Ratcliffe was disappointed his requests to Surf Life Saving New Zealand to have patrols at the beach had been ignored.

Ratcliffe has been going to the Coromandel beach for over 50 years and said the “sleepy little beach village” between Pāuanui and Whangamatā has become a popular summer holiday spot attracting hundreds a day over the past five years.

“You take one step ... [at Ōpoutere] and you’re in a pothole and within seconds you’re 30 metres away from where you were standing and unable to touch the bottom,” he said.”

After witnessing a near-drowning incident involving a teenager, Ratcliffe reached out to Surf Lifesaving New Zealand in July.

He hoped to start a conversation about how they, the locals and the campground could work together to have a lifeguard patrol on the beach - even just for the summer period.

However, Ratcliffe never got a response from the organisation.

He was left feeling even more disappointed hearing a man died yesterday and a teenager was still missing.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand national manager Andy Kent said they had seen the email but it got “lots of requests” to patrol areas.

“It all comes back to money and resources, and there’s a real process to determine where to patrol, and [setup costs] for clubs,” Kent said.

“Our volunteer capacity, which our organisation is founded on, is not able to patrol every area we get a request for. Every year we apply to councils for support and it’s up to them to help us.”