KEY POINTS:
Police have called off their search for a man who fell off Hamilton's Victoria Bridge last weekend.
Deon Bruce Cowdrey, 21, was last seen struggling on the surface before disappearing from view in the swollen, fast flowing Waikato River.
He is presumed to have drowned.
The Waikato Times reported today that Mr Cowdrey's family, along with police and members of the Huntly volunteer fire brigade, had been searching the river all week for his body.
Yesterday, police also called in their Eagle helicopter for assistance.
Sergeant Jim Kernohan said police would call their search off because they had been on the water for the past four days.
The river and the riverbank were busy at the weekends and he urged people to contact them about any possible sightings.
As of last night Mr Cowdrey's body had not been found.
The newspaper reported that in July last year, Auckland man Te Wairua Waiariki, 17, jumped into the Waikato River when it was at similarly high levels. Mr Waiariki's body was never found.
Two people dived into the river in a desperate bid to save Mr Cowdrey when he fell from the Victoria Bridge about 11.20pm on Saturday but were unable to do so.
Witnesses saw Mr Cowdrey leaning over a railing looking into the swollen river when he lost his footing and fell.
He had been celebrating the win of his Hamilton Marist under-85kg team on Saturday with a few beers at a Hamilton pub while watching the All Blacks beat the Wallabies.
- NZPA
