\u201cWe are grateful for the incredible support of Land Search and Rescue volunteers, local jet-boat and helicopter operators, iwi who provided knowledge of the river and surrounding terrain, and the Police National Dive Squad. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis has truly been a team effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
Formal identification is underway, and Roe\u2019s death has been referred to the coroner.<\/p>\n
His son, Liam Roe, said the past weeks had been \u201cincredibly painful\u201d for their wh\u0101nau and their focus had now shifted to funeral and tangi arrangements.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was first informed about my father\u2019s disappearance, I travelled to the Waioweka Gorge area to be present and do everything I could to support the situation,\u201d Liam said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith my dad now found, our focus is on laying him to rest with dignity and love and supporting our wh\u0101nau through this process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liam described his father as \u201chonest, kind, and always there for everyone\u201d.<\/p>\n
He was creative, artistic, always doing something with his hands \u2013 whether painting, building or fixing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never stopped moving, he was always doing something,\u201d Liam said.<\/p>\n
David Roe\u2019s son described his father as kind and honest, and always there for everyone. Photo \/ Supplied <\/p>\n
He was a skilled handyman who loved living off the grid, seeking self-reliance and space away from the city. <\/p>\n
Roe and his family had been renovating an older house in the Waioweka Gorge, clearing blackberry, replacing windows, and working on plumbing and guttering.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loved being in the bush, he loved riding bikes, and he loved making people feel good about themselves \u2013 especially through his work as a hairdresser,\u201d Liam said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of all, he loved his kids, he loved his family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roe was a Seventh Day Adventist, passionate about God and his faith, and known to the Bay of Plenty business community as the founder of Inversehair, a sub-zero cordless hairstyling tool designed as an alternative to heat styling.<\/p>\n
He had lived in \u014cp\u014dtiki since July last year after moving from Tauranga with his wife and youngest son.<\/p>\n
The family had relied on boat crossings after a nearby swing bridge was damaged during heavy rain in the days before the incident, making daily life and access challenging.<\/p>\n
During the search, the family covered costs including travel, accommodation and a $1200 private helicopter service to access the remote area.<\/p>\n