On Saturday, 7 September, the body of a 20-year-old male, missing since 31 August, was recovered 1.5 kilometres off Wilderness Beach, Cape {town} Etc reports.
After a group of paddlers spotted the body, the South African Police Services (SAPS) Water Policing and Diving Services (WPDS), with the help of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Wilderness, recovered it.
The paddlers, on a route from Victoria Bay to Sedgefield, came across the floating body at around 9:16am and immediately raised the alarm.
The NSRI Wilderness Station quickly dispatched the rescue craft Ann Stratford to the scene. Upon locating the body, it was brought back to the NSRI rescue base, where it was handed over to the Government Health Forensic Pathology Services for further investigation.
A formal identification process has since confirmed that the body recovered was that of the 20-year-old male, who had gone missing along with a 17-year-old male while swimming at Victoria Bay on 31 August. The two had reportedly been caught in rip currents while swimming with a group of six friends.
