Please attribute to Detective Senior Sergeant Tom Gollan, Counties Manukau Police:
Police have identified a body that was found washed up on the beach at Te Kawau Bay, Ponui Island at the weekend.
The body was found by a member of the public around 12:10pm on Saturday 16 January.
He has been identified as John Planas, who was reported missing in August last year.
The 33-year-old man, a Philippines national who lived in Auckland, did not return from kayak fishing off Duder Regional Park on 30 August 2020.
Mr Planas' family in the Phillipines have been informed and his death has been referred to the Coroner.
ENDS
Jarred Williamson/NZ Police