KEY POINTS:
Police say they may never find the body of a St Arnaud man whose car plunged into the Buller River
Leith McConochie, 25, was driving along State Highway 6 near Murchison with his girlfriend early on Saturday morning when his car rolled down a steep bank into the river.
His girlfriend managed to scramble out of the vehicle and make it to the bank and raise the alarm.
Police divers later recovered the car but found no sign of promising motocross rider Mr McConochie.
Tasman police district search-and-rescue coordinator Hugh Flower said yesterday divers decided it was too risky to return to the river to search any further.
The sheer water pressure along the Buller, and the number of holes in the riverbed, meant it was likely that the body would never be found, he told the Nelson Mail.
Dry weather over recent days meant the river level was continuing to drop, but the water was still very discoloured.
A spokeswoman for the McConochie family said they did not want to comment.
- NZPA
