Body found on beach named but mystery remains

Ninety Mile Beach. Photo / Dean Purcell.

Police have confirmed the identity of the man who lost his life on Ninety Mile Beach this year but the mystery surrounding his death remains.

The body, found by a Kerikeri family in the shallows north of Waipapakauri Ramp on February 13, has been identified as that of 25-year-old Sunil Kumar Raghavaraju, an Indian national who had been studying in Auckland.

Identifying the body was complicated by the fact he had apparently never needed dental treatment so had no dental records. The police had hoped to obtain DNA from personal belongings but were unable to do so, the identity finally being confirmed after DNA was obtained from family in India.

Senior Constable Chris Yarnton, of Houhora police, said Mr Raghavaraju had been unemployed since finishing his studies in December.

His flatmates in Auckland said they believed he might have headed north looking for work and did not report him missing until February 22, by which time his family in India were also growing concerned.

Mr Raghavaraju did not own a car and it was not known how he travelled north, how he got to Ninety Mile Beach, why he went there or how he came to be in the water.

Mr Yarnton said a post-mortem examination had established he had drowned, although the death had been referred to the coroner for a formal finding.