Missing man's body found in swamp

The body of a 73-year-old man missing for more than three months has been found floating in a swamp south of Auckland.

Stefan Jensen, who suffered mild dementia, disappeared on June 4 from his son's rural property on Geraghty Rd in Pukekawa, 24km southeast of Pukekohe.

Police today said his body was found lodged in willows by a Huntly fisherman who was catching eels in the Punga Punga swamp, nearly 1km west of the Waikato River, last Thursday.

The area was within walking distance from Mr Jensen's home, Sergeant Shane Fogarty said.

A post-mortem had been carried out to establish his identity.

Mr Fogarty said Mr Jensen's family were "obviously still upset", but were relieved to have his body returned to them.

Police and search and rescue volunteers failed to find Mr Jensen despite an extensive five-day search in June.

- NZPA