Adventure attracted hiker to outdoors
Student named as one of two who died as search for Brit continues
ADunedin student who was one of two people found dead in the Makarora River at the weekend was a senior member of the Otago University Tramping Club and a keen photographer.
Police yesterday identified the man as Kevin Kum Fike Lee, who lived in Dunedin.
Police are yet to name a woman also found in the river.
The two bodies were found by members of the public on Friday and Saturday.
Meanwhile the search continues for Stephanie Simpson, a British tramper reported missing on Monday. She, too, was in the Makarora area.
Her brother-in-law Sam Hazelton said the family were desperate for information.
“Police have said there have been two sightings of her on the trail but we don’t know the source of the information or have any further details.”
Hazelton said the family last heard from Stephanie early on Thursday. “Stephanie is very competent and physically fit. She is relatively experienced in outdoor activities and has already completed a number of hikes.
“She is such a funloving, kind, determined and adventurous woman, we are asking anyone who might know anything to please get in touch with police,” Hazelton told Sky News.
Otago University Students’ Association president Jack Manning said it was “deeply saddened to hear of the tragic death of Kevin Lee”.
“Kevin was an avid and valued member of our university community, and a senior member of the tramping club. He will be sorely missed by fellow peers.”
Lee, 22, was a pharmacy student and called himself an “adventure enthusiast” on his Instagram account.
The last photo he posted was listed as being taken in Makarora 17 weeks ago. His sister Helen said she only learned her brother was missing on the day his body was found. “There’s no easy way to deal with things.” Adding to the stress was the financial cost of bringing Lee’s body back to his family in Auckland. They planned to set up a Givealittle page to raise funds, once they had picked a charity to donate any excess funds to. The river deaths followed several days of extreme weather in the lower half of the South Island.
It had been a tough few weeks for the small community, after two people were killed in a car crash near Makarora on January 30.
After a Department of Conservation staff member was removed from the area’s information centre several years ago, a long-time resident said she was surprised a tragedy had not happened sooner.
Wonderland Makarora Lodge manager Michelle St John said the community had been fighting to have a Doc staff member reinstated at the centre to advise those entering the national park.
“It’s been like that for three or four years, and I’m incredibly surprised that this actually hasn’t happened before.
“Obviously, we put out alerts and we would recommend that people didn’t cross rivers and things, but we don’t have the authority to say.”
She said the community was “pretty devastated”.
Federated Mountain Clubs president Jan Finlayson said having department staff based near the entrances to national parks was “vital”.
“Not just for giving advice to recreationists, but so people understand the environment they’re going into in a general sense.”