Piers Fuller
Stuff
[Jason Diedrichs knows the Tararua Ranges like the back of his hand. Many owe him their lives. Unfortunately, this past week this was not to be the case. But a family was released from the curse of never knowing what happened to a loved on in one of New Zealand's most hauntingly beautiful, yet dangerous national parks. JD and his colleagues are especially public spirited souls and exceptionally knowledgeable and skilled at what they do.]
Jason Diedrichs ("JD") of Amalgamated Helicopters was the one who first spotted Myers' body.
Piers Fuller, Stuff
A fleeting glimpse of colour that caught a helicopter pilot's eye meant a long, agonising wait for family was almost over.
In many ways the conditions could not have been worse during the 11 days the search was on to find missing tramper Darren Myers in Tararua Range. His body was found at the bottom of a 6 metre waterfall in Arete Stream on Wednesday in an isolated area almost impenetrable by foot .
Darren Myers' wife Kim Shaw, centre, supported by her sister and brother-in-law Debbie and Duncan Styles,were at search headquarters almost every day since the search began on Sunday, June 2.
Thousands of man hours went into the search but in the end it was the experience and nous of seasoned helicopter pilots which brought the break everyone was hoping for.
Jason Diedrichs of Amalgamated Helicopters and his co-pilot Jamie Hansen had been tasked by planners to do another sweep of the area because of clues that had been discovered in the area last weekend. The body of Wellington man Darren Myers was found by search teams on Wednesday.
"It was colour that stuck out. It just looked a little out of place," Diedrichs said when he saw something tucked away at the bottom of one of the many waterfalls
He said it was a sense of excitement and relief when they realised they had likely found what they had been looking for. "In this particular search it was just relief because it had gone on for so long. I knew the huge commitment that everyone had put in to try and find Darren." It was only a break in the weather on Wednesday morning that made it possible. We follow the tasking and use a little bit of initiative along the way and the skills that we may have from working in the mountains all the time."
Searchers believe the body may well have been covered by snow when the first attempt to view the area from air was made on day two of the search. "Given the conditions we were dealing with early on in the search it would have been easy not have to have seen him," Diedrichs said.
He made it clear that they were just part of a very large team whose detailed and tenacious work brought about a result. "There's a huge commitment by such a lot of people, in particular Land SAR teams and we're just one phase of a big machine that's out there looking for anyone in their time of need."
Diedrichs said having family members at base helped inspire the teams. "The whole SAR community were probably more affected than sometimes otherwise, purely because he had such a supportive family at the base. It just makes you want to get out there and find him even more."
Myers' brother-in-law Duncan Styles said by being there with Myers' wife Kim Shaw and other family members they felt they could make a contribution. "There's no point in having a search if the people who are connected to the guy they are searching for aren't there. I quickly realised there was no chance of us putting on a pair of boots and going up and having a look."
But they realised an encouraging role was what they could do. He said the family were feeling much better on Thursday knowing what had happened. They rallied together at the family home in Wellington and were able to reflect on good memories even though events of the last fortnight were still raw.
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