Body on beach may be missing pilot

WILL BANKS

By JANE GARDNER

jgardner@northernstar.com.au

A BADLY decomposed body found washed up at Brunswick Heads beach early yesterday morning may be the remains of 54-year-old ultralight pilot Will Banks, who has been missing since last October.

Mr Banks, of Ocean Shores, is believed to have perished when the ultralight he was piloting with son Joel on board crashed into the sea off Tyagarah Beach on October 22.

Early-morning walkers discovered the body, which witnesses said was beyond recognition, and immediately alerted the Byron Bay police, who arrived on the scene about 7.30am.

A spokesperson for the NSW Ambulance Service confirmed the body was identified by medical staff as human by 8.45am, after which it was handed over to police for forensic investigation.

The body of Mr Banks' 25year-old son Joel, of Lismore, was discovered at nearby New Brighton Beach, 1km north of the Brunswick Heads breakwall, on November 18 last year.

He was formally identified two weeks later and autopsy results revealed he died from a head injury.

Mullumbimby man Giovanni Ebono was walking his dog on the beach yesterday morning when he came across the remains 500 metres south of the Brunswick Surf Life Saving Club.

On closer inspection, he recognised human bones and immediately called police.

"I saw a large grey lump washed up at the high tide mark and although it had no recognisable face, the bones were remarkably human," he said.

"I can't stop thinking about it because it's so gruesome and serious."

A positive identity cannot be confirmed until police carry out a thorough forensic investigation.