Missing After Leaving to Pick Coconuts, Laode Ompi Found Dead in River by Search and Rescue Team

KENDARI - A joint SAR team recovered the body of Laode Ompi (40), who drowned in the Poaroha River, Marobo District, Muna Regency, Southeast Sulawesi.

The Head of the Kendari National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Amiruddin, stated that the victim was found on the third day of the SAR operation in a critical condition.

"At 9:00 a.m. WITA (Central Indonesian Time), the joint SAR team found the victim deceased approximately 506 meters south of the location of the drowning," Amiruddin said in Kendari, Antara news agency reported, Thursday, August 28.

The victim's body was then recovered and handed over to the family. With the discovery of the victim, the search operation was officially declared complete and closed.

"All elements involved in the search have returned to their respective units," he said.

The search for the victim involved the Kendari Basarnas Operations Staff, the Muna SAR Alert Unit, Babinsa (village military officer), the Bono Police, the Marobo Sub-district Head, Poaroha Village officials, local residents, and the victim's family. The equipment used included rescue vehicles, rubber boats, wooden boats, medical search and rescue (SAR) equipment, evacuation equipment, communications equipment, and other safety support equipment.

Amiruddin explained that the SAR operation began with a report from his family last Tuesday at 11:30 PM WITA (Central Indonesian Time). The victim had asked his wife to go pick coconuts in a garden along the riverbank around 2:00 PM WITA. However, the victim had not returned home by the afternoon.

The family then conducted a search and found only a pair of the victim's sandals, separated by one on the riverbank and the other on the murky surface.