KEY POINTS:
A text message reading "help" alerted the partner of a father-of-five to his desperate plight, lost on a bitterly cold Canterbury night.
The next morning, police found Craig Alan Ford's body only 2km from his Leithfield Beach home, north of Christchurch.
Senior Sergeant Peter Cooper said it appeared a Ford Falcon became stuck in the Kowai River around midnight and another vehicle brought in to pull it out also became stuck.
Mr Ford and two friends began to walk back to Leithfield Beach but became separated in the dark. The other two made it back but Mr Ford did not.
The Press newspaper reported his partner, and the mother of his 10-month-old daughter, received a text at 3.30am yesterday saying "help".
Helen Carmichael told the newspaper Mr Ford knew the area "like the back of his hand".
She said the men had gone to the riverbed to tow out a four-wheel drive vehicle stuck there.
"Craig said to me, 'I will be back soon, I will see you soon'. Craig does it all the time ... I got a text from Craig about 3.30am saying 'help'."
"I rang Craig's phone and could not get hold of him so I rang his other friend's cellphone and he was at the car but didn't know where Craig was so we got him to make his way back here looking for Craig on his way, but he had no luck," Ms Carmichael said.
"I sort of left it until it was daylight because I thought Craig would find his way home, but he didn't and that's when I rang police, at 8.20am."
Mr Cooper said Mr Ford would have been cold and possibly disoriented.
A post-mortem would be held today and the death referred to the coroner.
- NZPA