Body found in sea near Greymouth
A body of a 52-year-old man has been found floating in the sea just north of Greymouth, on the West Coast.
Police are investigating how the man ended up in the water, after his quad bike was found in the tide near the start of the Point Elizabeth Track in Cobden, near Greymouth.
Sergeant Mark Rowbottom said the body was spotted by some people in a fishing boat 300 metres off shore about 1.30pm on Saturday.
‘‘They called emergency services and the body was uplifted by surf rescue and brought to shore. There was no identification on the deceased but we were able to identify the male through police channels. We are still investigating the circumstances,’’ Rowbottom said.
A quad bike was found on the beach at Point Elizabeth, but it had been swept into water and all track marks had been washed away by the tide, he said.
‘‘He may have had an accident on the quad bike, or he was possibly fishing and had fallen off the rocks,’’ he said.
He did not believe there were any suspicious circumstances.
The man was originally from Dunedin, but was staying in Greymouth, he said.
Further details were not yet available.