KEY POINTS:
Police have recovered the body of Australian tourist Akshay Miranda, which had been trapped beneath ice on Fox Glacier.
Brothers Akshay, 22, and Ashish Miranda, 24, were crushed beneath falling ice last Thursday. Ashish's body was located by police shortly after the accident but it had been too dangerous for searchers to go after his brother.
Police and Department of Conservation had monitored the glacier since the accident and said significant changes in the flow of the Fox River had exposed more rock and ice in the past week, leading to the possibility that Akshay's body had been released from the ice.
This was confirmed when DOC staff today found a red cap, thought to belong to Akshay, about 500 metres downstream.
An aerial search of the Fox River spotted the body about 10km downstream at 12.30pm.
Police said his body would be taken to Christchurch for a post-mortem before being released to his family.
They said there were no personal items on him. He was thought to have been carrying the keys to the family's rental car at the time of the collapse.
The keys were at the centre of a spat when the manager of the car rental firm said the family should pay up to $1950 for new keys and for the car to be towed back to Wellington. He later relented.
Police said the brothers' parents, Ronnie and Winnie Miranda, were understandably relieved that Akshay's body had been found.
"It is likely that the funeral which was planned in the near future for Ashish will be delayed until Akshay can be reunited with his family," Constable Tony LeSueur said today.
Mr and Mrs Miranda returned to Melbourne yesterday. They were being assisted by New Zealand Victim Support to have Akshay's body repatriated to Australia.
"They have expressed their gratitude for all the assistance they have received," Mr LeSueur said.
The brothers' aunt, Clara Fernandes, said Mr and Mrs Miranda heard the news about 4pm (NZT) and were not in a position to comment.
Ms Fernandes said the couple had felt distressed leaving one son behind when they brought Ashish home on Wednesday.
"When Winnie and Ronnie were leaving New Zealand, they were very, very distressed that they were leaving one child behind and feeling very unsettled," she told AAP from the family's Melbourne home.
"They have taken comfort from the fact that they can be buried together."
Ms Fernandes, who is Mrs Miranda's sister and lives in the United States, said Ronnie was coping better than his wife.
"Men have a way of being able to get on," she said, adding Ronnie was keeping himself busy reading sympathy cards and emails.
"But as a mother, for Winnie it has been extremely hard.
"This is an unspeakable and imaginable loss."
No date had been set for the funeral, she said.
- NZPA
