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Missing Teen Surfer’s Island Rescue Now Treated as Mental Health Incident

Police now believe Darcy Deefholts paddled deliberately to North Solitary Island before being found alive, prompting authorities to treat the case as a mental health incident.

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Marine Rescue NSW crews searched the waters from Bare Point in the north to Freshwater Beach in the south for a missing 19-year-old surfer.
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Overview

  • Darcy Deefholts went missing on Wednesday afternoon after leaving his home for Wooli Beach and his bike, clothes and shoes were found about 5 km north at One Tree.
  • Search teams from NSW Police Force, Marine Rescue NSW, PolAir and local volunteers covered a 15 km coastal stretch from Bare Point to Freshwater Beach before locating him.
  • He was discovered alive at around 9 am on North Solitary Island and was taken to Grafton Base Hospital, where he remains in stable condition after treatment for mild exposure.
  • Authorities now suspect Deefholts may have paddled deliberately to the remote island and are reviewing his disappearance as a possible mental health incident.
  • Father Terry Deefholts’s urgent social media plea for boats, drones and beach walkers galvanized hundreds of volunteers and bolstered official search efforts.