KEY POINTS:
A German tourist who died while swimming in the Bay of Island was a physical education student who had been in New Zealand for about six weeks, police said today.
Divers found the body of 19-year-old Tobias Faber last night at 5pm, after more than 24 hours of
searching.
Northland police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said Mr Faber's body was lying in 2.4 metres of water.
There were no injuries and the case had been referred to a coroner to determine the cause of death.
Police believe Mr Faber had met his 20-year-old Canadian male companion in Auckland, and the pair had driven to Paihia on Friday.
On arrival, they had gone for a swim from the beach to nearby Motumaire Island, a popular snorkelling destination about 500m from the shore.
But it was while swimming back from the island around 3pm that the man disappeared from his friend's view.
A tourist, who did not wish to be named, spotted the distressed Canadian man about 300m off the main Paihia beach. "There was a boy in the water, shouting that he needed help."
She raised the alarm with a local cruise ship worker, Gemma Langsdale, who rushed outside to see the man yelling and holding on to a life-ring he had taken from a boat to buoy him while he tried to get help.
A taxi ferry operator raced to the exhausted man, and pulled him onboard. "He kept going on about his friend [when he arrived on shore]," Langsdale told the Herald on Sunday. " 'My friend is still out there', he said. He was white and shivering, so I gave him my jacket."
At least six boats from the area joined the search for the missing man, with an aircraft and the Coast Guard. The survivor was taken by Paihia's St John Ambulance to Kawakawa Hospital.
Ambulance officer Mark Going said the Canadian was suffering from mild hypothermia. He was treated and discharged, and stayed in police accommodation on Friday night.
Victim support services had been made available to to the man, who also received offers of accommodation and other help from local people.
The search for Mr Faber was called off at nightfall on Friday, but continued yesterday, with kayakers from Search and Rescue scouring the area. The police dive squad arrived around 3pm, and began looking for his body in an area around 100m from the island's shore.
The officer in charge of the investigation, Constable Mark Caswell of the Paihia police, said the surviving tourist was "very shocked, and very quiet", and too upset to speak to media yesterday.
"He was resigned to the fact his mate wasn't going to be found alive."
Caswell said Mr Faber had studied sports at school, and had just graduated. "His friend said he was a very strong swimmer."
Mr Faber's body was found only 10m from where he was last seen, in 2.4m of water. Police would not speculate on the cause of death, but said something must have "gone wrong".
His body was being taken to the Kaeo morgue until arrangements could be made with his family.
It was business as usual for the town's cruise operators and tourist ventures yesterday though, and tourists snapped photos of the large numbers of police present in the area without knowing why they were there.
Residents who had heard of the tragedy expressed surprise at how close to shore the accident occurred.
"It's crazy to think someone could go missing in this safe environment," said Sam Westlake.
"From what I understand, one of the boys got cramp, and the other one thought he was mucking around and swam ahead. When he looked back, his friend was treading water and then he disappeared."
Iwi had placed a rahui on the area, meaning swimming and shellfish gathering were prohibited until the man's body was recovered.
Meanwhile, a second search and rescue operation in Mangonui was also carried out yesterday.
A fixed-wing airplane and the local Coast Guard were looking for a missing 4m wooden boat that had not returned after leaving Whangarei on Friday.
The vessel and its sole male occupant were found on Saturday morning. The skipper, who police described as "ill equipped", was safe and well.
- Additional reporting by Michelle Coursey / NZPA
