A family's long-weekend camping trip has ended in tragedy with the body of a 19-year-old man found down a cliff in the NSW Hunter region.
Jay Fowler had been on a camping trip with about nine to 10 of his family and friends at McLeans Lookout in the Watagan Mountains when he went to go to the toilet on Monday morning but never returned to the campsite.
His body was found on Wednesday morning near the bottom of a 100 metre cliff.
"As you can appreciate, today has been a difficult day for the family," Jay's father Kevin Fowler said.
"What we imagined was going to be a happy weekend has ended up in a tragedy as a result of finding Jay's body today."
Search crews had scoured thick scrub for 48 hours with the teenager's parents at the campsite, holding out hope their son would be found alive.
A search resumed at first light on Wednesday and his body was found at 9am in bushland.
Jay's body was found below a cliff and due to its precarious position in extremely inhospitable terrain, a helicopter was needed to help in the retrieval operation.
Mr Fowler thanked emergency services for their tireless work.
"Their understanding, their willingness, their sympathy - they have really been a support to the family," he said.
"It has been a difficult day and the family would appreciate it if you respect their privacy," he said.
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