Durban - The body of a 71-year-old woman, who was reported missing by her family, was found about 70 metres off-shore at Umtentweni beach on Wednesday morning.
The National Sea Rescue Institute's Shelly Beach station commander Jeremiah Jackson said in a statement that the family of the woman had reported her missing after she failed to return from a walk on the beach in the early hours of the morning.
He said NSRI Shelly Beach rescue swimmers, Police Search and Rescue and KwaZulu-Natal private ambulance services responded.
Jackson said an off-duty NSRI Shelly Beach trainee member who was at Umtentweni fishing at the time reported to have spotted something in the water.
"The NSRI trainee swam out and finding the body of a female floating in the surf he recovered the body to the beach where he was met by Police Search and Rescue officers who had just arrived on the scene and the female was sadly declared deceased by paramedics."