Human remains found at a beach in the Newcastle area last month have been identified.
At around three o’clock on the afternoon of August 26, a man located a bone on the shoreline of Stockton Beach and promptly reported it to local police.
Following forensic tests, the remains have now been identified as the 20-year-old man reported missing from the same beach late last year.
A multi-agency search was sparked for the swimmer in Stockton waters last November and continued for several days after the man and his friends became caught in a rip about 200 metres off-shore. While the other four managed to make their way back to shore, the fifth man was last seen submerged in the surf.
Officers are not treating the death as suspicious and a report is being prepared for the information of the coroner.