Port Kembla: Body found near Hill 60 believed to be missing angler

Police believe a body found at sea near Port Kembla is that of missing angler Brendan Buxton-Hurd, after the 19-year-old was swept to sea by a freak wave two days ago.

Police believe a body found at sea near Port Kembla is that of missing angler Brendan Buxton-Hurd, more than two days after the 19-year-old was swept to sea by a freak wave.

The body was located shortly before 1pm on Wednesday near Hill 60 where Mr Buxton-Hurd was last seen fishing with his friends. Police have not identified the body, but believe it to Mr Buxton-Hurd.

Emergency services had been called to the notorious Hill 60 Headland at about 3.45pm on Anzac Day after reports a man fishing from the rocks was hit by a large wave and washed into the sea.

The man’s friends, Chaise Barbaric, 24, entered the water in an attempt to rescue him, but was retrieved alongside another friend by witnesses and surf life savers.

Nine News screengrab showing Brenden Hurd, 19, who was hit by a large wave while fishing with friends at Hill 60 park in Port Kembla on the Illawarra coast. Picture: Nine News

Officers from the Lake Illawarra Police District began a large-scale land, sea, and air search of the area, assisted by Surf Life Saving NSW, Marine Area Command, PolAir, Marine Rescue NSW, NSW Ambulance, and the Toll Ambulance Rescue Helicopter.

The search was abandoned at 6pm on Monday before resuming the following day without success.

Mr Barbaric told The Daily Telegraph he had been fishing at the spot for multiple weeks.

“The waves were horrendous. We had our gear back on the rocks so we were chucking out [our lines] and if a wave would come we would run back to the rock,” he said.

Mr Barbaric said the waves flung his friend “20 or 30 metres in 10 seconds” as he tried in vain to save him.

“I’ve got no voice now,” Mr Barbaric said.

“I was just screaming ‘Brendo, please brother, swim to shore’.

A floral tribute at the base of Port Kembla’s Hill 60 after the body of teenage rock fisherman Brendan Buxton-Hurd was found on Wednesday, May 27, 2022. Picture: Dylan Arvela

“I even tried to chuck my rod out and hook him, I tried to get the buoy out to him and I stripped down to my underwear and fell in.”

The 24-year-old sustained cuts all over his body and was taken to Wollongong Hospital as a precaution, though he was back out at Hill 60 early on Tuesday morning where he said it would be the mental injuries that would be the hardest to overcome.

“Before I go to sleep I can just picture the wave hitting him and him going in,” he said.

“I just want him back, he’s one of the nicest blokes I’ve met in my entire life.

“He looks after all of his brothers and sisters, he has 10 brothers and sisters, I can’t even comprehend it – I woke up this morning and just started crying.”

Mr Buxton-Hurd’s family have also set up a GoFundMe to fund funeral expenses.

“I miss him terribly I can’t imagine living my life without him,” his mother Tracey Hurd said on the page.

“My heart is broken, I have nine children, soon to be 10 and I don’t have any money to put my sweet boy to rest.”