The body of Wellington man Philip Sutton has been found in the area of the Karori Stream, between his home and the coast, according to police.
Sutton disappeared when floodwaters surged through his home early on Monday morning.
The search had been paused on Tuesday due to unstable stream banks, variable and fast-moving water, debris and damaged terrain.
Philip Sutton
Photo: NZ Police/Supplied
But on Wednesday, searchers had been on-site from 8am, working in challenging conditions involving debris, high water levels, bank subsidence and wastewater contamination.
Police told reporters at the scene this afternoon that they were now working to recover his body.
Police search for missing Wellington man Philip Sutton.
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
They said Sutton’s silver Suzuki Swift had been found by a police search team just before 11am on Wednesday, and then his body was found about 12.30pm.
Constable Steve Ewart said there was a “substantial distance” between the two, and the car had sustained moderate damage, considering what it must have been through.
The flow-rate of the stream by the time it had receded on Wednesday was four cubic metres per second, he said. But at the peak of the weather on Monday, the flow had been measured at 100 cubic metres per second.
Constable Steve Ewart speaks to the press after the recovery of a body during the search for Wellington man Philip Sutton on 22 April 2026.
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
The police had previously asked the public not to join the search themselves, and Ewart said he did not know if any members of the public had been out on Wednesday.
Inspector Fleur de Bes said it was too early to determine how Sutton’s body came to be where it was found.
The water level was “extremely high”, she said. At the scene, debris could be seen in trees more than a metre off the ground.
Police loading the bumper of a silver car into a van.
Photo: RNZ / Kate Green
They now needed to piece together the events that led to his death, de Bes said.
Ewart said so far nobody had reported hearing anything that could help with the investigation, and there was no digital footprint to trace – no CCTV footage in the area, and no activity on his cellphone, as the area had limited cell coverage.
“It sounds like the flood waters hit very rapidly, very quickly and with ferocious strength,” Ewart said.
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