A man has revealed the horrific details of finding a surfer who had been brutally stabbed at a beach on NSW’s Mid-North Coast.
The 22-year-old man was found with “significant” stab wounds to his body in the carpark of a Coffs Harbour beach about 6.40am on Thursday.
He was taken to Coffs Harbour Base Hospital in a critical condition and died a short time later.
A local man who had been sleeping rough in the carpark told 7NEWS he saw the victim slumped on the ground next to his car.
“I put my joggers on to go for a run and I just saw him … he looked like he was sitting down on the ground up against his driver’s door,” he said.
“All I could see was his legs in his wetsuit.
“He just looked like he was sitting there, and I couldn’t see much more of him, except for his legs.
“I thought he was on his phone or whatever.
“Then I got back from my jog and there were cops who wouldn’t let me into the carpark … there were all these cops everywhere.”
The man said he had seen the surfer arriving for a surf early each morning over the past week.
“This guy has been coming in about 6am for the last three or four days, putting on a wetsuit to go for a surf even when there’s no waves,” he said.
Police and other emergency services, including SES personnel, scoured the beach and surrounding areas for evidence after the man was found.
They also searched bushland near the man’s car.
Chief Inspector Detective Guy Flaherty said police are yet to find any motive for the attack.
“He was found at the side of his orange Ford sedan — we believe he had recently come out of the surf and was wearing a black wetsuit and using a small, short board surfboard,” Flaherty said.
“Police have established strike force Kooringaroo and urge anyone who may have had their cars broken into at the (beach) carpark between 6am and 6.30am or had confronted anyone in the area to contact police.
“Investigators think the person responsible may have travelled back from the carpark towards the creek and bridge area (near the beach).“
Flaherty added police located some “items of interest” around the nearby jetty area.
“This area may or may not be related, but at this point in time we’ve declared a crime scene,” he said.
The offender is yet to be found.
Detectives say they are appealing for witnesses who may have been near the surf club carpark between 6am and 6.40am on Thursday.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
