Inspector Olaf Jensen, Area Commander, Otago Lakes District:

The search for skydiver Tyler Nii in Lake Wakatipu has been suspended.

The Police National Dive Squad completed the final phase of their sonar search yesterday, and unfortunately have not located Tyler.

The search area has been a 300 metre diameter radius from where the other skydiver was rescued.

This has been a difficult search, given the weather conditions on the lake, and the depth of searching.

We have been operating at a depth of 340 metres.

(As a comparison, the Sky Tower is 328 metres tall.)

Suspending the search is not the outcome we wanted.

We were obviously wanting to return Tyler to his family and it’s very disappointing that this couldn’t be done.

We have advised the Nii family of this, and they will be returning to the United States tomorrow (Thursday).

While they are naturally disappointed that they do not have Tyler to take back with them, they are appreciative of the efforts undertaken by Police to recover his body.

Police will be providing details of the search efforts to the Coroner to assist in the ongoing coronial process.

Statement from the family:

We want to thank Kate and Philip Rive, of Cecil Peak Station, who were extremely helpful in the initial search on the lake for Tyler, and for all the equipment and support they’ve given the ongoing search.

Their efforts have been outstanding, as have those of the Police.

We also want to thank the businesses of Queenstown that have supported us with food, vouchers, and other activities while we’ve been staying in town.

We can’t get over the support that’s been shown across New Zealand and in the Queenstown community.

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