A 34-year-old Brisbane man drowned while searching for a dropped mobile phone at the Noosa Everglades on the morning of Sunday 7 November.
Noosa police acting senior sergeant Troy Cavell said the man was with a group of about 15 friends, including his girlfriend, who had camped out in the region as part of a 30th birthday celebration.
The group had canoed to the area in the upper reaches of the Noosa River that morning from Elanda Point, he said.
Snr Sgt Cavell said the man, who was an experienced diver and swimmer, had just free dived into the water to look for a phone that had dropped in.
There was no stupidity, no drugs involved, he said. “It just happened.”
A number of locals who were paddling back to their cars at Harry’s Hut after having camped at the Everglades Saturday night were called over by the group they said were “hysterical”.
They told them one of their mates had dived down to retrieve a phone and hadn’t resurfaced.
Noosa local Johanna Dean said the group, who were known to her, stopped to help.
The man was found and CPR was administered for more than an hour before the QAS helicopter arrived, she said.
“The ranger had also arrived on the scene but did not have a defibrillator on his boat.”
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said ambulance officers responded to a call about 10.30am with a helicopter attending.
