The body of a 49-year-old father who went missing at a lake in Far North Queensland on Sunday while trying to save the lives of his two children has been recovered.
Queensland Police Inspector Mark Henderson said the local man had been swimming with his children, aged seven and 10, at Lake Tinaroo south west of Cairns, when the pair got into difficulty at about 11am as they were returning to shore.
"The father has swum out to rescue them — he's been successful in rescuing them, but unfortunately he's then gone down," Inspector Henderson said.
Officers searching for the man found his body just before 3:30pm on Monday.
Police said there were no suspicious circumstances in his death but a report would be prepared for the coroner.
Inspector Henderson said search crews had dealt with challenging conditions, with limited visibility in the water due to mud and weeds.
He said police divers had been flown in from Brisbane, and SES crews and local police used helicopters, boats and drones.
Inspector Henderson commended several members of the public who were also at the popular water skiing site for their efforts to help find the man.
"They all rallied to try and help, swimming and diving down themselves. There was a lot of work done by those on the lake," he said.
"There was no family present for those two young children so thankfully another family that were up visiting for the day took the kids in while the search continued."
The man's wife was flying back from Melbourne at the time of her husband's disappearance.
