The body of a man who was last seen in the water at Fairy Meadow beach, north of Wollongong, on Sunday evening has been found.
A multi-agency search was unable to locate the man this week but police were called back to the beach just after 8am on Friday when someone spotted the body.
“Emergency services were called to Fairy Meadow beach …where the man’s body was recovered from the water,” NSW Police said.
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“The body is yet to be formally identified.”
The man was last seen “submerging” 100m offshore at 6.38pm on Sunday, Life Saving NSW said.
NSW Police, NSW Marine Rescue and Surf Life Saving NSW conducted a days-long land, air and water search, parts of which were suspended amid gale warning across the Illawarra coast.
Rips are common at the beach, according to Surf Life Saving NSW.
“The beach receives waves averaging 1.5m in the north-centre, decreasing to 1m toward the south, which results in a single bar cut by rips every 200m, with up to 14 rips along the beach,” the Surf Life Saving NSW website said.
It is understood the beach was not patrolled by lifeguards at the time of the incident, but volunteers from Fairy Meadow SLSC and North Wollongong SLSC responded after hours to assist in the search.
“Fairy Meadow Beach is only patrolled during the NSW school holidays, between September to the end of the NSW April school holidays. North Wollongong Beach is the only beach in the area that is patrolled all year round,” the Visit Wollongong website said.
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