Teen missing in river named

A Hamilton teenager tried to help as his friend, believed to be a non-swimmer, struggled and then disappeared underwater in the Waikato River yesterday.

The boy managed to get to his mate but could not keep hold of him. He is presumed drowned. The 15-year-olds were swimming at Malcolm St beach in the centre of the city.

Police today named the missing boy as Kori James Dinsdale, 15, of Hamilton.


Searches this morning have found no sign of Kori, who was a student at Fairfield College in Hamilton.


"They had jumped into the river and were swept out to the middle - about 30m from shore - which they didn't expect," said Sergeant Murray Stapp. The survivor called police, who searched by boat for two hours. They will resume the search this morning.

The missing boy's swimming abilities have been questioned as the current was no stronger than usual.

"But the current is reasonably strong at any time in Hamilton, and [yesterday] was no different," Mr Stapp said.

The boy is the 17th person to have drowned this year.