'Pure torture': Aussie dad finds son lost at sea with Facebook search operation

“Tears and shouting at the wind weren’t going to find my boy."

When 19-year-old Darcy Deefholts vanished this week, his dad Terry faced every parent’s nightmare. 

But he responded in the only way he knew how: with action.

“It took all my resolve to hold my s**t together and focus,” Terry told Kidspot.

Darcy had failed to return home after going surfing at One Tree, Wooli, on NSW’s North Coast on Wednesday afternoon.

Rescue teams located Darcy on a remote island off NSW on Thursday morning. Image: Supplied

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"Fearing the worst"

Once marine officials stood down for the night, with the search set to resume Thursday morning, the determined dad turned to his community. He refused to sit back and wait.

“Tears and shouting at the wind weren’t going to find my boy,” he said. 

Taking to Facebook he wrote:  

“My boy Darcy is still missing. Marine Rescue searched tonight from Bare Point to Pebbly Beach at sea. They have been stood down for the night but expect they will be back early to resume the search.” 

“I am asking anyone with a seaworthy vessel to please meet me at the main Wooli boat ramp and take me to sea to help with the search.” 

He gave a rough description of Darcy’s last known location, what he was wearing, and the wind conditions.

“Of course we are fearing the worst,” he wrote. 

“There is only one thing we want now. Our beloved boy to be found safe.”

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"The dark night of the soul"

Terry launched a grassroots mission of his own. One late-night Facebook post at a time.

Within hours, strangers were launching boats, drones took flight, and a digital village rose up to help.

The post spread rapidly through local community pages, and a dedicated search group was created and monitored.

“There’s much to say about the gratitude I’ve felt for this astonishingly beautiful community,” Terry said. 

The thought of losing his child had taken him to the brink. 

“The idea of potentially losing my Darcy, well I’m going to call it the dark night of the soul. Pure torture that weighed so heavily it was almost crushing,” he explained. 

At around 8am Thursday morning, Terry got the news he’d been desperately hoping for.

Darcy had drifted kilometres from shore and ended up stranded on an offshore island overnight.

A private helicopter, arranged by a volunteer, spotted him. 

A boat was quickly dispatched to retrieve him. He was found cold, disoriented but miraculously unharmed.

After nearly 16 hours missing at sea, his son was finally safe. Terry could finally breathe.

“I’m currently in the aftershock of a traumatic ordeal that had the best possible outcome,” he said.

Terry was going to stop at nothing to find his son. Image: Supplied

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For all the technology and rescue protocol, it all came down to a dad and a Facebook post. 

What could have been a tragedy became a miracle. 

Terry is now preparing a way to properly thank those who answered his call.

“I’m preparing a story to try and thank everyone. It’s going to be a long one,” he said. 

This week proved that a parent never stops leaning on their village.

Originally published as 'Pure torture': Aussie dad finds son lost at sea with Facebook search operation