The disappearance of a 22-year-old tourist at Boomerang Beach during the Easter long weekend is being treated by police as a tragic accident.
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The man has been identified as country NSW rugby league player Terry Brown from Orange.
Mr Brown is a talented bush footballer with the Blayney Bears in Group 10.
Chief Inspector John Sullivan from the Manning Great Lakes Command, Forster told the Great Lakes Advocate on Monday morning that the search had progressed into a recovery mission.
Emergency service personnel, including the Westpac Helicopter, Polair, Water Police, the Police Diving Unit, Marine Rescue and local Surf Life Saving, volunteers, were called to the southern end of Boomerang Beach after the man went missing on Sunday morning.
The search resumed on Monday after personnel failed to find his body.
According to Chief Insp Sullivan, the man was with a group of four when he jumped from rocks below Boomerang Headland at approximately 7.15am.
“He was the first person into the water,” Insp Sullivan said.
According to his friends, when the man resurfaced he was face down in the water and covered in blood.
An attempt was made to rescue the man, but it was unsuccessful, Chief Insp Sullivan said.
Chief Insp Sullivan said police were not treating the incident as suspicious.
"It's misadventure at this stage,” he said.
“We're not treating it as anything other than that.”
He said at the time of the man’s disappearance the surf was relatively rough with a 1.5m swell.
He said this unfortunate accident was a timely reminder that beachgoers swim between the yellow and red flags.
“Jumping off rocks is not a safe thing to do.”