mmg.com.au

A friend of missing Seymour swimmer Beau Ross valiantly tried to rescue him from the Goulburn River on Friday night.

Beau, 18, and his friend, 19, were swimming near the Anglesey St entrance about 7pm when Beau got into trouble.

The Telegraph understands Beau’s friend tried several times to rescue him, but was getting pulled under.

He then fetched a tree branch and tried to pass it to Beau, but this was unsuccessful.

Last night  a body was found in the Goulburn River, but the person is yet to be identified.

Emergency services, including the police, SES, CFA and paramedics were involved in searching the river between Anglesey St and Goulburn Park on Friday night.

Seymour SES members and police searched on Friday night. SES reinforcements were called in from Alexandra, Kilmore and Euroa on Saturday morning and searched on the river and on foot along the banks.

Police divers also joined in on Saturday morning, initially searching near where Beau went missing.

However, the searchers’ task was difficult due to the state of the river. It was a lot higher on Friday than it had been earlier in the week due to a release from Lake Eildon. The current was also stronger near Anglesey St and the water was particularly discoloured.

Beau’s fate has been the subject of speculation on social media, but police were keen to ensure this did not get out of hand.

Inspector Dan Trimble called on those posting on sites such as Facebook to consider the feelings of Beau’s family before doing so.

‘‘He is still only missing, and we’d ask that everyone keep that in mind before posting things,’’ Insp Trimble said.

Beau’s friends haven’t given up hope and have created a Facebook group which had about 100 members yesterday.

The group plans to meet at Goulburn Park on Friday at 7pm, exactly a week after Beau went missing. They will be bringing flowers to honour him.