Brazilian fisherman has ‘no doubt’ he saw missing Australian backpacker Rye Hunt

THE fisherman who says he saw missing Australian backpacker Rye Hunt begging for water is convinced it was him.

Rye Hunt was last seen on this CCTV in Rio de Janeiro.

THE fisherman who says he saw missing Australian backpacker Rye Hunt “begging for water” is convinced it was the 25-year-old he spotted on an unhabitated island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

It comes as Brazilian police cease the sea search for the missing Australian after 72 hours following reports of a body spotted floating at sea.

The fisherman, who wished to remain anonymous, told Rio’s newspaper O Globo he had “no doubt” he saw the Tasmanian on Cotunduba Island, located off the coast of Rio approximately one kilometre from Copacabana, the day after his disappearance on May 22.

Mr Hunt went missing on May 21 after he argued with his travelling companion, Mitchell Sheppard, at Galeao International Airport in Rio.

The fisherman is the first person to allege he saw Mr Hunt after his last official sighting; when CCTV cameras captured the Australian tourist leaving his hotel room in Copacabana at 6:20pm on May 21.

When the fisherman saw Mr Hunt’s face in the newspaper eight days later, he contacted authorities, certain he had seen him.

He said he first spotted the man, allegedly Mr Hunt, sitting on a rock. He eventually swum up to the Brazilian and his girlfriend and requested water. He was suffering “various injuries and seemed upset”.

“The boy stared at my craft,” the witness said.

“He had several cuts [to] the body: probably hurt [from] shellfish attached to the island’s rocks. “My girlfriend and I were scared because he was a strong man. He went down near the water and made gestures asking for water. I asked him not to jump in the sea. I grabbed a 1.5 litre bottle of water. He drank it all at once.”

“We talked very quickly in English, asked where he was from and how he got to the island. He said he was from Australia and had swum there.

“I found it strange, since Cotunduba is difficult to access, the waves enter with force and cover the island’s rocks.

“When we stopped speaking, he returned to sitting, looking lost.”

Yet searches of the area have proved hopeless.

Rye Hunt with Mitchell Shepherd in Brazil.

Last week, a body with clothing similar to that worn by Mr Hunt was spotted by fishermen in the sea off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

The sighting on Wednesday morning, near the island of Rasa, 8km from Copacabana Beach, was reported to the Brazilian navy.

Crew of a fishing vessel told authorities the body was seen near an archipelago about 8km from where Mr Hunt was last seen.

They crew said the corpse was wearing clothes resembling those Mr Hunt was last seen in, police said.

A search began on Wednesday afternoon but his family confirmed today “as per Navy protocol (to our knowledge) the sea search for Rye has ceased after 72 hours”.

Mr Hunt’s long-term girlfriend, Bonnie Cuthbert, who has flown to Rio, said she was treating any lead cautiously.

“We’re obviously very apprehensive, nervous, but still very hopeful,” she said.

“Rye remains a missing person ... and the family remains determined and hopeful in our search.”

Last week Brazilian police spokeswoman Elen Souta alleged in a press conference Mr Hunt inhaled MDMA before undergoing a psychotic episode and swimming to the uninhabited Cotonduba Island.

Ms Souta said Mr Hunt and Mr Sheppard took the drug MDMA, then went to a party at a club in Lapa, located in the centre of Rio.

At the party, they sniffed more MDMA and mixed it with vodka.

It is claimed the pair were both hallucinating after taking the drugs.

The owner of the Rio de Janeiro club visited by Mr Hunt, Raizes da Lapa, has described the Tasmanian’s “terrified” state of mind.

“I could see they were like, high and they were not thinking straight, you know”.

“They were under effect of a kind of drug, I don’t know which one,” he said.

“So, they started to see things and they thought everyone there was staring at them, that everyone there wanted to kill them.

“They were really terrified, especially the one who is missing.”

Australian man Rye Hunt is seen leaving Rio de Janeiro’s Galeao International Airport.

At the airport on May 21, Mr Hunt is said to have accused his 22-year-old friend, Mr Sheppard, of stealing his passport and trying to kill him.

Mr Hunt went to “cool off” after the disagreement but vanished after footage revealed he hopped a taxi at the airport instead of meeting his mate to catch a flight to Bolivia.

It was 2:30pm local time in Rio.

The travelling duo had agreed to meet after half-an-hour, but in a strange twist Mr Hunt chose a new direction.

“They hadn’t booked a flight; they went to the airport with the intention of buying a ticket and looked online for flights,” Mr Hunt’s sister, Romany Brodribb, told news.com.au.

But when a fight erupted between the pair over the destination, Mr Hunt stormed off and was never to be seen again.

“They had a disagreement. My brother, as much as I love him to absolute bits, if he gets a bit grumpy about something he needs a little time to cool off sometimes,” Ms Brodribb said.

After his disagreement with Mr Sheppard, CCTV footage captured Mr Hunt checking into a Copacabana apartment.

Mr Hunt’s family confirmed he checked into the room an hour after leaving the airport, at approximately 2:30pm.

Almost three hours later, at 6:20pm, he left the apartment and hadn’t been seen since the latest reports.

The 25-year-old bought some beer, CCTV footage shows, before leaving his room wearing thongs.

Authorities scoured Mr Hunt’s Copacabana apartment and found his laptop, backpack, a camera and numerous other personal items.

Mr Hunt had planned a six-month world trip with travelling companion and mate Mitch Sheppard, starting in Thailand for two weeks, South and Central America for two months — including seven days in Cancun followed by a bus trip to Acapulco — before moving onto a two-month trip around Europe, finishing off in Munich, Germany, for Oktoberfest.

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