Search and Recovery Operation Concludes Following Marine Incident on Gold Coast

Emergency services recovered a body believed to be that of a 55-year-old man who went missing off the Gold Coast after frantic calls for help were reported over the weekend. The initial distress call was received at approximately 7.10pm on Sunday, indicating a person was crying out for assistance near the Boykambil Esplanade boat ramp in Hope Island.

Following the report, law enforcement agencies initiated an urgent multi-agency search operation across land, sea and air. Approximately 20 minutes after the initial alert, authorities located an unoccupied speed boat in Coombabah Creek, which was identified as belonging to the missing individual.

Due to the nighttime conditions, the initial hours of the search yielded no results, prompting teams to suspend the overnight operations before deploying fresh resources on Monday morning. The expanded search involved multiple units combing the surrounding waterways and coastline for signs of the missing boater.

At approximately 8.45am on Monday, search teams discovered the man's body at the mouth of Saltwater Creek, located roughly 500 metres from where the initial vessel was found. Police have stated that the circumstances surrounding the death are not being treated as suspicious.