Police at Puketutu Island. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
A body has been found in the search for a man missing from a sunken vessel in Manukau Harbour.
It was spotted by the police Eagle helicopter on Thursday afternoon near Puketutu Island, where he was last seen, and recovered by the Police National Dive Squad, with help from the Police Maritime Unit.
A formal identification was yet to be carried out.
Earlier on Thursday, his family said they were "heartbroken" as the search continued for a third day.
The search began on Tuesday evening, when police received a distress call just before 6pm saying a person was missing in the water near Puketutu Island.
A second person, believed to be a nephew of the missing man, was able to swim back to shore and raise the alarm.
The boat was towed back to shore by Coastguard on Tuesday night.
The missing man's niece, Lovina Fa'ukafa, said the family "were still in shock".
"My brother… went with my uncle and he made it to the shore, but my uncle didn't."
A rāhui had been put in place by local iwi, covering much of the harbour for at least seven days.
