Four teenagers have been found alive after they went missing while paddleboarding off Rosebud beach on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula on Monday.
An air, sea and land search began on Monday night and an 18-year-old woman, two 18-year-old men, and a 19-year woman were found alive on Swan Island at about 10am, Victoria Police announced.
Swan Island, near Queenscliff, is more than 20km away from Rosebud beach.
Four missing teenagers found alive on Swan Island, after they left paddle boarding from Rosebud beach pic.twitter.com/GsDQezWpka
— Natasha May (@natasha__may) December 19, 2022
“It was believed they’d been out on an inflatable paddleboard, the four of them. From there, the alert was raised,” Acting Inspector Daniel Pregnell told ABC radio.
A passerby walking on Rosebud beach at 8pm Monday saw the missing teens’ belongings and reported them to police. A massive search began but was paused at 4am Tuesday due to poor conditions. The search began again at about 8am and police said rescuers searched the entire bay.
The air wing and water police have resumed the search for four teens who went missing off Rosebud beach yesterday. The families of the 18 & 19yos say they went paddleboarding but never returned home. Passer-by found clothes on sand around 8pm. Police searched till 4am @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/3oYjVdpGBn
— Lana Murphy (@LanaMurphy) December 19, 2022
Family of missing teenagers here at Rosebud beach waiting for full scale search to resume. Two teenage boys and two teenage girls still missing after going paddle boarding yesterday. Incredibly difficult for these parents. @TheTodayShow pic.twitter.com/FdtI0EEjFV
— Izabella Staskowski (@IzaStaskowski) December 19, 2022
Police told 3AW Radio on Tuesday the teens were from Glen Waverley in Melbourne’s east.
Nine’s Today Show reported parents of the missing teens have been waiting at Rosebud beach all night during the search operation.
One father said the teens had just completed their Year 12 exams and were in Rosebud to celebrate.
“We have been waiting here … and are out helping, a lot of people are in the air and the police, the people in the sea, we really appreciate that,” he said on Tuesday morning.