By Riley Walter
The body of Central Coast teenager Luca Bennett has been recovered after the 15-year-old was washed off the rocks at a popular beach on Christmas Eve.
Luca was swept off the rocks at North Avoca beach just before 3pm while playing with friends.
Luca Bennett was washed off the rocks at North Avoca Beach on Christmas Eve.Credit:
His two mates made it back to shore and raised the alarm, sparking a multi-day search for the teenager.
About 12pm Friday, police received reports of a body in the water at North Avoca Beach. Luca’s body has since been recovered, police said.
“Our beautiful Luca J has been found,” Luca’s mother, Michelle, said in a statement posted to social media on Friday.
“Dolphins were circling [North] Avoca rocks since 5am this morning. The ocean lifted him up onto the rocks.”
Friends gathered on Christmas Day to honour Luca.Credit: James Brickwood
Michelle thanked authorities and lifesavers for their search efforts.
“We can’t ever begin to explain our immense gratitude to them and all of our family, friends and community. We love you,” she said.
Michelle and Luca’s father, Jason, earlier this week paid tribute to their son, a talented basketballer and student at the Scots College in Sydney.
“Yesterday we lost our darling beloved Luca J. Everyone is doing the best they can to search for him and bring him home to us. We are so grateful,” a statement posted on social media said.
“He was the most perfect son, and we can’t believe it’s real.”
Luca was invited to attend the prestigious US-based Phenom America Basketball Camp in California in July last year. He began high school in Terrigal before transferring to Scots, and played under 16s basketball for the Norths Bears in Sydney.
In a letter to the school community on Thursday, Scots principal Dr Ian Lambert said Luca was a “deep thinker with a big heart that cared for others”.
Luca, who had boarded at the school in years 8 and 9, was a member of the college’s Indigenous Education Program and had strong connections to the Central Coast’s Darkinjung Aboriginal community through his Wiradjuri heritage.
“Luca often shared with staff his love for his family and how much he wanted to honour his parents by making the most of every opportunity,” Lambert said. “He mirrored his parents’ unconditional love in how he treated others, always making the people he spoke to feel valued and loved.”
Luca was also part of Basketball NSW’s High-Performance Program, which prepares young athletes to represent the state at the national championships.
“He was also a skilled artist and his passion for art was contagious, often inspiring other boys in the classroom to dig deeper,” Lambert said.
A memorial service for Luca, who Lambert said would “forever be a part of the Scots College family and will be missed by the staff, students and all those who had the opportunity to know him”, will be held in Term 1 of 2025.
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