Police have confirmed the body washed up in Karaka Bay this morning is that of a 19-year-old who went missing while swimming in the Hutt River on Thursday.
A member of the public reported the find to Wellington police around 7am. Police recovered the body and have formally identified it as the missing teenagaer.
Police are not naming the deceased at this stage. The family has been informed and is requesting privacy.
A friend of the 19-year-old was frantically searching on the bank of the Hutt River after the man went for a late night swim on Thursday.
Search teams scoured the river mouth and harbour. Sergeant Anthony Harmer said when one of the teenagers got out of the water he could no longer find his friend.
Greater Wellington Regional Council river ranger Travis Moody said the river was at its peak when the 19-year-old entered the water at about 10pm.
"It gets quite ferocious even in a smaller rain event like that. Any time the river's up you don't want to get in the water.
"It's a raging torrent basically. You'll have big boulders underneath the water moving along with that flow."
Moody said the man would have struggled to keep his head above water in those conditions.
"Even if you did get to the side, you'd have to deal with a whole lot of vegetation.
"It's pretty easy to get pulled under when it's like that, poor guy."
A drone was also used in an attempt to find the teen.
