Swimmer still missing

17.05.2010

THE wife of a man who went
missing in the ocean off Suffolk
Park on Tuesday resumed
her sad vigil at the
beach yesterday morning.
She and several friends,
including one of the men who
had been in the water with her
husband, sat on the sand surrounded
by police officers,
watching four surf lifesavers
on jet skis comb the breakers.
The group remained on the
beach for several hours.
However. searchers were
unable to find the missing
man.
Rescuers searched the
length of Tallow Beach and a
kilometre out to sea and made
a thorough investigation of
the rocky outcrops around
Broken Head.
But a southerly change
forced the surf rescue jet skis
from Byron Bay, Lennox Head
and Ballina, and rescue boats
from Byron Bay and Ballina,
to call off the search around
midday.
The front brought in strong
winds, choppy conditions and
rising seas and made conditions
dangerous. Water police
will decide tomorrow when to
resume the search.
The missing man, an African-
American aged 32, disappeared
while swimming about
12.20pm on Tuesday.
It is believed he fell victim
to one of the many rips that
are currently all along the
beach, where experienced
observers say a tremendous
amount of water is surging
through.
The man was from Chicago
and had lived in the area for
the past year.
Meanwhile. a woman who
witnessed the incident said
she had been 'frustrated at
the lack of urgency, mishaps
and communication breakdowns'
that had characterised
the rescue efforts.
The American woman, who
watched the man enter the
water with his two friends,
said she had helped flag down
rangers on the beach at
12.30pm, telling them 'we
need to call the police'.
Police records indicate they
received the emergency call
at 1.15pm, but The Northern
Star was not able to establish
who made it.
Police were the first to
arrive on the scene. Surf lifesavers
were next to be alerted,
and raced to the beach.
Byron Bay's ambulance officers
were called at 1.49pm.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter
was called at 1.50pm,
alerted by the Ambulance
Medical Retrieval Unit at St
George Hospital in Sydney.
It arrived about 2pm and
stayed for at least an hour.
The first jet ski-rider in the
water was a friend from nearby
Baywood Chase, called by
the missing man's two
friends.