Police hold blessing at Lake Wakatipu for missing man Tyler Nii

On Thursday a blessing was held for Tyler Nii and his family at Lake Wakatipu. Nii, a 27-year-old from California, went missing after crashing into the lake during a tandem sky-dive. Photo / Supplied

A blessing has been held for missing man Tyler Nii following a tandem sky-dive that went terribly wrong.

On Thursday police accompanied Nii's family to Lake Wakatipu where Southern District Health Board kaumātua Herewini Neho led a blessing for Nii's parents and his brother.

Nii, who is from California, is missing and presumed dead after the 27-year-old and his tandem-skydiving instructor plunged into Lake Wakatipu while on a jump with skydive firm NZONE on January 10.

Nii was the passenger in the last of nine pairs to leave the plane.

The Police National Dive Squad have brought in specialist sonar equipment in a bid to find Tyler Nii and will test it on Friday. Photo / Facebook

On Thursday specialist equipment for the Police National Dive Squad that could penetrate the depths of the lake arrived and would be set up and tested on Friday, Area Commander of Otago Lakes Central Olaf Jensen said.

Lake Wakatipu is one of the deepest lakes in the country, with a maximum depth of 380m.

The sonar equipment the dive squad had could only reach 300m.

Southern District Commander Paul Basham and Deputy Commissioner District Operations, Viv Rickard were also present for the blessing.