POLICE have confirmed a body found on Stockton Beach last week is that of a Chinese tourist last seen struggling in an inflatable boat off Jimmy’s Beach in Hawks Nest.
The body was found by local fishermen on the Newcastle beach last Wednesday, four kilometres north of the Sygna shipwreck.
The Newcastle Herald reported last Thursday that large tides are believed to have carried the body 40 kilometres from Jimmy’s beach to the Tasman Sea before it was pushed by a southerly current past Birubi Point.
Major air and sea searches of the area were downscaled after police failed to find the body.
The woman, believed to be in her 30s, was dragged by strong north-easterly winds from Jimmy’s Beach to the middle of Port Stephens on Friday February 6.
Police say the woman, on holidays from China, had only been in Australia for one day before she went missing. A report is being prepared for the coroner.
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