Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed on Saturday that the body of an Australian man who went missing in Brazil has been found.
25-year-old Rye Hunt disappeared from the Copacabana Beach area on May 21. "I can confirm that Brazilian authorities have informed us that the body that was discovered recently near Rio De Janeiro is in fact that of Australian citizen Rye Duval Hunt," Bishop told AFP.
"We will continue to work with the family, providing whatever support we can within our consular responsibilities, and we'll continue to work with the Brazilian authorities to determine how this death came about," she added.
The remains had washed up about 25km from Rio last week, dashing hopes of finding Hunt alive. Hunt's family said they were "heartbroken".
The Brazilian police reported that Hunt had taken powerful drugs and was suffering from a psychotic episode in the hours before he disappeared. But Hunt's final steps are still unknown.
He was travelling along with his friend and had been due to leave Rio. But suddenly he took a taxi from the airport and landed up in a short-term rental apartment in Copacabana.
Earlier this month, the Brazilian police were searching for a backpacker when they revealed that a fisherman had reported seeing a body floating off Copacabana Beach. It had similar clothes to that of Hunt before he went missing.
Another fisherman had reported that he saw a man on a tiny deserted island close to Copacabana Beach. He also reported that the man who was injured by contact with shellfish had asked for water.
