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.