Lifeguards vow to keep looking for boy

Five-year-old boy Jack Dixon remains missing, nearly a week after he was swept into the ocean by a wave on a Mount Maunganui beach.

 source:
 8 October 2014

Surf lifesavers have vowed to keep searching for missing five-year-old boy Jack Dixon "for as long as it takes".
Jack disappeared last Wednesday when he was swept into the ocean by a large wave at Shelly Beach while he played with his two cousins, aged 12 and 14.
Police, Coastguard and lifesavers have been searching for him ever since, and Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service chairman Paul Treanor says they will continue looking for him, along with lifeguards from Papamoa and Omanu.
Mr Treanor says lifeguards have put in nearly 2500 volunteer hours in the search for Jack - a high number given that the total patrol hours last summer was just over 5000 hours.
He says their effort wouldn't be possible without the hours of training.
"The lifeguards from all three clubs have run a gauntlet of parallel emotions since the search began - we've shared the agony of Jack's family and we've seen their haunted faces looking frantically out to sea," he said.
"At the same time, we've been the most-equipped people on the scene, the ones who've felt most useful and able to help, which is precisely why we put such an emphasis on training and up-skilling our members."
Police say Jack was caught by a king tide that caught the children off guard.
The lifeguards are also searching for 37-year-old Stephen Tracey, who went missing on September 27 after telling his family he was going on an hour-long walk.

NZN