Searchers find body at West Auckland beach

Johnny Faitaua

Searchers looking for a missing swimmer at a West Auckland beach found a body yesterday morning.

Johnny Faitaua, 23, was swept under waves at O'Neill Bay on Thursday afternoon while swimming with his girlfriend.

During the search yesterday, officers on the police Eagle helicopter spotted a body in the water, just off the Bethells and O'Neill Bay beach peninsula, about 11.40am, police said.

Police search and rescue staff and local surf lifesavers retrieved the body. Formal identification would take place today, police said. It would not be known if the body was that of Mr Faitaua until at least this afternoon.

Mr Faitaua was swimming, reportedly in "quite treacherous" conditions near rocks, when he got into difficulty at the northern end of the bay, which is to the north of Bethells Beach.

His family have been holding vigil at the beach.

His mother, Luisa Faitaua, spoke at the weekend of her grief. "My last words to him were 'Be careful, son, that beach is dangerous' and then we said our goodbyes."

Her son was "kind, gentle and quiet", she said. "He is always at home with us so we are very close to him. The whole family is very close-knit," she said. "He is such a loving boy."

Mr Faitaua's family have also expressed their grief on Facebook, with one man saying: "Miss you little bro love you for eternity". Another wrote: "we here for you cous [cousin], come home. family forever".