A boat belonging to a missing Tongan fisherman has been found about 50 nautical miles off the coast of Canterbury’s Ashburton River.
The family of Pastor Lionati Fotofili, 47, are still looking for him after a member of the public discovered the half-submerged dinghy on the shoreline south of the river.
A family spokesperson told Stuff the dinghy “was found the same day Pastor was reported missing to police”.
“It was not until 26 days later they realised the dinghy they had found was the one Lionati Fotofili, 44, of Timaru, was last seen fishing from before he was reported missing on December 30” Stuff reported.
The family previously “release a photo of the green plastic boat/dinghy Fotofili was in on the night he disappeared” to media, “and asked people to look out for it”.
The family search continues. It has been assisted by groups from Multicultural Aoraki, Alliance Smithfield Timaru, and the Te Aitarakihi Trust who had been ‘’a phenomenal support’’.
The family also asked that members of the public continue to report sightings of items of interest as far north as Lake Ellesmere (Te Waihora), “specifically, a grey or blue tarpaulin, blue New South Wales league shorts’’.
The boat is being recovered.
