Body of missing Southland boatie found

Fishing boats at Riverton. Photo / File

Police have recovered the body of a man from a Southland river after he went missing when his dinghy overturned at the weekend.

Police said Jamie Stephen Boniface, 28, went missing after his dinghy overturned in the Riverton Estuary on Sunday.

His body was recovered from the water near the Aparima River bridge by divers and the coastguard about 10am today, police said.

Boniface was in a small dinghy with two others when it overturned in the Riverton Estuary around 2.30pm on Sunday.

The two others made it to shore unhurt.

The police national dive squad carried out an extensive search of the estuary and other areas.