Tourist died from fall injuries
A ‘‘well-liked’’ and ‘happy’’ tourist whose body was found in the sea off Golden Bay died from injuries caused by an accidental fall, a coroner’s report has found.
Dutchman Ken Boogers’ remains were discovered by a local tourist guide on Farewell Spit in April 2015, a month after he was reported missing.
The alarm was raised after the 25-year-old failed to turn up to a farewell dinner on March 22 with colleagues from the Farewell Spit Cafe, where he had been working as head barista, the report by Coroner Carla na Nagara said.
The last confirmed sighting of Boogers was on March 21, when he left the Wharariki Holiday Park to go on a walk. He had planned to walk to Wharariki Beach, and along exposed cliff tops on a DOC track leading to the Cape Farewell viewing area; a walk that would usually take between three and five hours.
He talked to a friend at the holiday park between 8:30am and 9am. As he left she told him to enjoy his walk. He told her that he would see her later.
Boogers was not an experienced tramper, but was an experienced rock climber, and his friends recalled that he would often climb rocks when he saw them or explore caves.
To the east of Cape Farewell was a ‘‘relatively easy to access’’ beach with a small cave, the report said.
Boogers had been working at the cafe in exchange for food and accommodation, and was ‘‘wellliked’’ and considered ‘‘like a manager’’ by other staff, but had decided to leave to travel with a friend from the Netherlands.
A post mortem examination found fractures on Boogers’ body suggested that he had fallen from a height, and it was likely he suffered soft tissue injuries that may have contributed to his death.
The investigating police officer, Detective John Nicholls, believed that he died after falling onto the shoreline, either from a clifftop or while climbing up from the shoreline to escape the rising tide.
The medical and circumstantial evidence suggested that Boogers died in the vicinity of Wharariki Beach and Cape Farewell on 21 March 2015, as a result of injuries caused by a fall from a height and being swept out to sea, Coroner Nagara said.