Senior Sergeant Craig Pickering said a police search team have found a body in the search for Karori man Philip Sutton. Video / RNZ
A body has been found in the search for Wellington man Philip Sutton, who has been missing after Monday’s extreme weather.
Search teams, including a dive squad and dog unit, had been searching for the man, in his 60s, since Monday, but searches have been hampered by dangerous conditions.
TheSouth Karori Rd property Sutton was living in was battered and buried in debris after flash flooding swept through the area.
Karori man Philip Sutton disappeared after floodwaters ripped through his Wellington home early on Monday morning. Photo / Supplied
Emergency services were first contacted about 7.15am on Monday by a concerned member of Sutton’s family.
The search was called off on Monday night and did not resume until 8am today, with Tuesday treated as a planning day due to a “lack of visibility, fast-flowing water, really unstable ground, [and] a lot of debris,” Senior Sergeant Craig Pickering said.
A Suzuki Swift registered to Sutton was found by police just before 11am today in Karori Stream, about 1km from where it had been parked before flooding started.
About 12pm, his body was found near the mouth of the stream on the South Coast.
“Unfortunately we found him deceased but we can bring him back for his family, which is really important,” Inspector Fleur de Bes said.
“This is not the outcome any of us were hoping for, and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this awful time,” she said.
“We’re obviously still working in the process of recovering Philip’s body and working through that with coronial services,” Pickering said.
Inspector Fleur de Bes and Senior Sergeant Craig Pickering at the rural Karori search scene. Photo / Tobias Macintosh
“The floodwaters hit very rapidly, very quickly, with ferocious strength,” he said.
“We do our best to piece together how he’s come to be where he is with the floodwaters.
“There was a number of items that we located during the search,” Pickering said, with debris travelling down the Karori stream due to the flash flooding.
The devastated South Karori Rd property where Philip Sutton was living. Photo / Billy Paine
Sutton, a Karori local, worked for NZ Post, with a spokesman for the organisation saying it was supporting its staff through the situation.
“Our thoughts are with our colleague, their family, friends and loved ones in this very difficult situation. We are also supporting our team in Wellington,” chief operating officer Brendon Main said.
