The discovery of one of three climbers missing off the coast of New Plymouth is good news for one of the families but a set back for those still waiting, police say.
Instructor Bryce Jourdain, along with Spotswood College students Stephen Lewis Kahukaka-Gedye and Joao Felipe Martins De Melo, both 17, fell into the Tasman Sea off Paritutu rock on August 8.
A male body was found at 7am today by a member of the public at a power station near the port, 100 metres from where the trio were last seen.
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Sergeant Andy Ross said the discovery would be good news for the family of one of the missing, once a post-mortem confirmed the identity of the body.
"It's probably going to intensify feelings for some of those families if it's not their loved one, so we are going to keep that in mind."
Surf live saver Andy Cronin recovered the body, and said search teams were relieved to finally get a result after nearly two weeks of searching.
"It's a tough thing because retrieving bodies is never nice, but it's pretty heartening to return something for the families.
"We would dearly love to return three."
The search was called off yesterday but resumed following the discovery, with teams searching the rocks near Paritutu today. Searches for the other bodies are planned to be be stepped up tomorrow.