12 Jan 2019

Body found at Whangārei Falls

5:17 pm on 12 January 2019

The police dive squad has recovered a body at the Whangārei Falls, where they have been searching for a man since yesterday afternoon.

Whangārei Falls.

Photo: Google Maps

The man went under the water and failed to surface at about 5pm while swimming with friends.

The scene has been blessed and the popular recreation site has been reopened to the public.

The area was closed yesterday and a dive squad looked for the man before the search was called off last night. It resumed this morning.

There have been a number of deaths at the 26-metre-high waterfall, located just a ten-minute drive north of Whangārei.

In 2011 a Whangārei teenager was found on rocks at the bottom of the falls, and two other teenagers also died at the falls on Christmas Eve in both 2002 and 2004.