The police are stopping an American family from searching for their drowned son's body in Lake Wakatipu.
Tyler Nii's body was never found after a tandem skydive went wrong in early 2018. His instructor survived.
The Nii family of San Jose has an underwater drone ready to go and will pay all the costs for a search early next year, pandemic permitting.
The police say their technical advice is it won't work - so they've refused permission.
Tom Crossmon of Minnesota owns the $400,000 drone and would run the search.
