Ledge Point: No sign of missing snorkeler Wen Ren Gu after he vanished in ocean on New Year’s Day
Family and friends of a snorkeler who went missing north of Perth on Thursday are holding out hope he will be found alive after police and marine rescue teams were forced to scale back their search efforts.
After Wen (Walter) Ren Gu failed to return to shore, an emergency response was initiated at Ledge Point Beach around 15:00 on New Year’s Day.
The 32-year-old Perth man was snorkeling with a group of friends when he became separated from them and disappeared. They went into the sea around 10:00.
Mr. Gu’s friend, Ching-Hui Chang, appealed for anyone who rescued or escorted an Asian man in the Ledge Point area on January 1 to contact the police.
“We cannot confirm at this time whether he returned to shore on his own or was rescued by nearby members of the public,” Ms Chang said.
“Police carried out search and rescue operations around the clock and have since been stopped. We do not want to give up and hope to continue the search with everyone’s support.”
Mr. Gu is described as being approximately 165cm tall, of slim build, and has a distinctive anchor tattoo on his lower left abdomen.
He is temporarily living and working in Washington, but according to his family, he is in the process of applying for a visa to continue his education in Australia.
Friends said he was a cheerful, outgoing and family-oriented person, and his distressed family truly appreciated the public’s help in searching for him.
WA Police Sergeant Michael Paterson, who announced the curtailed search on Friday, said Mr Gu was looking for crayfish when he disappeared.
It was unclear how long he had been missing before authorities were notified.
“There was probably a period of time where the friends spent their own time searching before the police were alerted, so there was a period between 10am and 3pm,” Sergeant Paterson said.
The incident left the community in shock, with local resident Jay Barrett also assisting in the search.
“It wasn’t far at all, you could literally almost walk to the reefs where they were,” Mr Barrett said.
“There are some dangerous spots. You just have to be careful when diving. Accidents happen and it’s very, very tragic.”
