Devastated family say goodbye to award-winning cop who vanished in surf
The life of a Queensland police officer who went missing in the ocean, will be celebrated in a special memorial more than one month on from his disappearance.
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A memorial has been set to celebrate the life of an award-winning Brisbane cop and buddy of Chris Hemsworth, who tragically went missing after going for surf in New South Wales
Inspector Jay Notaro vanished on March 25 - the day after his 45th birthday - after apparently going for a surf at Broken Head, near Byron Bay.
His surfboard was found on the beach and his car was parked nearby.
The alarm was raised when he failed to report for duty at Ipswich police station that morning.
A massive search involving air, sea and land assets from both Queensland and New South Wales lasted four days before authorities eventually called it off on March 28.
No trace of Inspector Notaro was found.
His uncle and former veteran cop Phil Notaro said at the time the family was devastated.
“This hole in our lives will never be filled. We are heartbroken. Such a tragic accident,“ he said.
“Conditions this week have been horrendous and we can’t thank the NSW and Qld police for a remarkable response. Plus all the friends and colleagues that attended to help in any way they could. And the onslaught of messages. It’s been truly humbling and heartwarming.
“But we fully understand that they (authorities) had to call it (the search off). The search was intensive. Now we wait for Mother Nature to decide if she will return him to us.“
An experienced surfer, Inspector Notaro served in roles including officer in charge of the Gold Coast water police and Coomera police stations.
He was also a surfing buddy of Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth, who lives in the Broken Head area.
Inspector Notaro was serving as an acting superintendent when he was appointed by the Crisafulli government as deputy director of the state’s flood disaster recovery response.
Inspector Notaro was last year presented with a compassion in policing award by the Queensland Homicide Victims Support Group for his work in helping solve the bikie-related murder of Gold Coast man Greg Dufty.
Inspector Notaro was extremely well-known in the service and respected by his colleagues.
Blue Hope - an organisation which provides mental health support to current and former police officers - shared the memorial details to social media.
The celebration of Inspector Notaro’s life will be held at Chandler Arena at Chandler on May 16 at 10am.
After the memorial, family and close friends of Jay are invited to attend Easts Leagues Club in Coorparoo.
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Originally published as Devastated family say goodbye to award-winning cop who vanished in surf
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