Emily Branje.
Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
Emily Branje was swept out to sea on 26 September, 2019 while watching her step-grandfather whitebaiting on the Hokitika River mouth on the West Coast.
Her body was found on 28 September in the sea at Cobden Tiphead near Greymouth.
At the time of the accident, Emily had been staying with her stepfather s parents on the West Coast.
The coroner s findings say her step-grandfather, Raymond Baxter, went whitebaiting regularly at the mouth of the Hokitika River, and Emily wanted to go with him.
Baxter told police that Emily had wanted to come whitebaiting with him all week, but the weather had not been suitable. On 26 September he decided that Emily could join him for the first time.