Heartbreak as search for Paul ends in tragedy
THE parents of an Australian man missing in New Zealand since Saturday night remain hopeful of finding their son alive.
THE search for Maccabi tennis star Paul Arber, missing in Hamilton, New Zealand since Saturday night, has ended in tragedy, with discovery of a body in the Waikato river close to where the 38-year-old was let seen.
Hamilton police say the body is yet to be officially identified, but a close friend of Arber told a New Zealand website he was “100 per cent” confident it was that of the missing Australian.
A Hamilton Girls’ High School rowing crew found the body in the Waikato River on Thursday morning. The Australia team and Arber’s parent’s Richelle and Sam, who had been assisting police with the search for their son since Monday morning, held a memorial service on the banks of the river where the body was found.
Arber had been in New Zealand for a junior tennis tournament and was displaying strange behaviour when he went missing on Saturday night and was last seen near the Waikato River at 4am on Sunday morning.
Tributes have begun to flow for the much loved tennis coach on Facebook, with Richelle telling The AJN on Wednesday her son was “an incredible kid”.
“Paul’s just well-liked by anybody’s who’s ever met him. He’s helpful, he’s one of the best coaches you could ever find, he’s just a great friend, a great son, brother, uncle … He’s adored by everybody,” Richelle said.
Hamilton Police communications manager Andrew McAlley told The AJN there was “no information to suggest any form of foul play,” but that police would be “foolish to rule it out”.
ADAM KAMIEN WITH AGENCIES
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