The mother of missing 20-year-old Alivereti Vunakece is renewing her call for improvements to Fiji's search and rescue response after a privately organised search with volunteer divers failed to locate her son, while Police say poor weather affected their search efforts.
Kelera Seniloli says although the search ended without finding her son, she now has peace of mind knowing she did everything possible to bring him home.
Vunakece disappeared on 10 July while snorkelling near Naevuevu Village in Sigatoka after he was caught in a strong current.
Speaking to fijivillage News, Seniloli says after official search efforts ended, her family organised its own search with the help of volunteer divers and community members.
She says the divers carried out several searches in the area where her son went missing, guided by her husband, who is familiar with the waters and underwater caves.
Despite hours of searching and multiple dives, they were unable to locate Vunakece.
Seniloli is now calling for improvements to Fiji's search and rescue response, saying specialist teams such as the Republic of Fiji Navy and trained search and rescue units should be deployed immediately when incidents occur at known drowning hotspots instead of relying solely on local resources.
She also expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Aju Naidu and Sitiveni Gaunavinaka of Naidu's Adventure for providing the boat used in the search, and to George Smith, Ashwin Pal and his son Masi Pal, who was Alivereti's classmate, from Diveaway Fiji at Hideaway Resort on the Coral Coast, for volunteering their time and expertise to help search for her son.
Responding to questions from fijivillage News, Police confirmed that Vunakece remains missing.
Police say the initial report was received after 6pm, and officers were unable to begin a sea search that evening because of darkness.
They say search operations the following day were assisted by officers from the Police Mobile Force dive unit and resort staff using a boat.
Police also say unfavourable weather conditions later forced the sea search to be suspended, with officers continuing searches on land while monitoring weather conditions before any further deployment.
Police have not yet responded to fijivillage News' question on whether the search is continuing.
The family will hold a memorial today.
