16 Jan 2020

Body found in search for missing Christchurch kayaker

6:04 pm on 16 January 2020

The search for a missing kayaker on Lake Ellesmere has led to a body being found and a rāhui being placed.

A view of Lake Ellesmere

Lake Ellesmere Photo: RNZ/Conan Young

At about 2pm this afternoon police located a body during the search for 59-year-old Christchurch man Louis Solofua.

The death has been referred to the coroner and formal identification is yet to take place.

Police conducted the search along with the North Canterbury Coastguard.

A karakia at the site was performed by local iwi Te Taumutu Rūnanga this afternoon and a rāhui has been put in place between Greenpark Huts and the Kaitorete Spit.

Solofua didn't return to his family after a solo mission to check fishing nets on Saturday morning.

Police believed he came out of his kayak, which was pushed away by the wind and found by search crews on the Kaitorete Spit later that afternoon.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs