Focus: The faces of those confirmed to have died in or after the Whakaari / White Island eruption. Video / Katee Shanks
A pilot who went to the island the day of the eruption recently revealed he saw New Zealand tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman alive but tragically didn't have time to save him.
Marshall-Inman 40, along with Australian Winona Langford, 17, have been identified as the last two bodies that remain missing.
Police were forced to postpone their search for the missing pair due to wild weather.
Hayden Marshall-Inman from Whakatāne has been named as one of the people that remain missing.
Marshall-Inman was leading a tour around the island when the eruption occurred.
Last week, helicopter pilot Tom Storey, who went to White Island to rescue victims immediately after the eruption, told The Project he saw his friend Marshall-Inman "in a pretty bad way".
Storey said he moved the tour guide to a more comfortable location while he helped other survivors, but was unable to get him off the island at the time.
"I just pulled him out from where he was and made him as comfortable as I could," Storey said.
The pilot said he wanted to go back, but was told not to.
Helicopter pilots Mark Law (left) and Tom Storey, leaving a meeting with Jacinda Ardern in Whakatāne on Tuesday. Photo / Getty
"It's pretty hard to take, you want a bit of closure for your families and yourself," he said.
"You never want to start a job and not finish it."
Speaking to Stuff, Marshall-Inman's brother Mark said the pilot told him that it appeared his brother had been trying to help those in need.
"His footsteps were going back to help on White Island," he said. "He was a true hero."
Last week, Mark also told local media about the families' frustrations with stalled recovery efforts, putting the delay down to "red tape, bureaucracy" and failed leadership, while offering to go to the island himself.
Mark Inman-Inman's brother Hayden Marshall-Inman speaks to media outside Mataatua Marae in Whakatane. Photo / Ben Fraser
But on Friday after the first recovery attempt, he praised those involved for their efforts.
"It's going to allow us to grieve and send our loved ones off in the manner they deserve," he said in a press conference.
Strong winds and rain have made finding the final two bodies extremely difficult, with an Eagle helicopter being forced to return to shore to this morning after leaving at dawn to continue the search.
Specialist dive teams have been searching the area around the island as it is not known whether the bodies are still on the land or in the water.
A pilot who went to the island the day of the eruption recently revealed he New Zealand tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman alive but tragically didn't have time to save him. Photo / George Novak
However, water-based search has now be ruled out due to storms being forecast.
There were 47 people on the island when the active volcano blew ash, hot liquid and steam 12,000 ft into the sky.
