Siale Havea (45) of Houma remains missing sea after he went out diving or underwater fishing at Fahefa, Tongatapu, on Friday night, 31 March. 

A Police Search and Rescue is underway, however an aerial search of the coastline by a police drone has not discovered anything to date.

Police today stated that Siale went out with three other men for underwater fishing at around 8:00pm. The sea was reported to have been rough that night and after several attempts from different locations, Siale went into the water alone at Fahefa. The other three returned home.

Police said that at around midnight, three of his people returned to check on Siale from the Blowholes site at Houma. “They exchanged signals with Siale using a torch and this time, he was seen to be near Vaotu’u. They then went back to Siale’s house and waited for their next check-up.

“Then around 2:00am on Saturday, 1 April, they returned to the Blowholes to check again. This time, Siale’s signal appeared to be near ‘Anafotu Harbour at Ha’akame. They then went to Ha’akame bearing towards ‘Anafotu.

“Due to potholes and muddy roads, they parked their vehicle and remained beside the road hoping that Siale [would] eventually show up there. When Siale failed to show up, they alerted the Police at Nukunuku, since it was already daylight.”

Due to the rough seas, the deployment of the Police Search and Rescue boat was not possible. A Police drone was deployed instead to conduct a thorough aerial search of the relevant area and coastline, with no results.

The Police search is ongoing with assistance from members of the community.