Orange's Caleb Hannus, 18, got into trouble after jumping into the Belubula River at Junction Reefs last Sunday.

There had been heavy rain in the area and police say the river was swollen at the time of the incident.

Despite the efforts of two other teenagers, he went under and failed to resurface.

Following several days of searching, police say they located the body of a man - believed to be Mr Hannus - about 6pm on Thursday.

Mr Hannus' AFL club, the Orange Tigers, paid tribute to him this week, saying they'd "lost a young Tiger".

Club members got together to honour their mate this week, releasing black and orange balloons into the sky.

Orange Tigers AFL Club secretary Kass Ings, who used to live across the road from Mr Hannus' family, said AFL was a huge part of his life.

"His dad is a mad Adelaide Crows supporter, so that was born and bred into him," she said.

"He'd always be walking down the street to my house with a football in his hand."

She said Mr Hannus idolised his older brothers Jake and Tyson and would sit on the sidelines as a youngster to watch them, dressed in his Adelaide Crows gear.

He started playing in Auskick with the Tigers in 2009 and made his way up through the club to the men's competition.

In 2021, after watching his brothers from the sidelines for many years, he finally got to play alongside them for the first time in a Tier 2 match.

Ms Ings said Mr Hannus would always be the first to arrive at training and the last to leave and was always happy to pitch in.

"He was one of those kids who just loved his footy and would do anything to help out around the club," she said.

"He always had a smile on his face."

Mr Hannus went to Orange High School and was about to start working for a plasterer, family friend Tyler Richardson said.

"He was always so happy and trying to make everyone smile and laugh," Mr Richardson said.

"He'd do anything for anyone. He'd give you the clothes off his back - that was just the type of person he was."

Mr Richardson's wife Taniesha set up a Go Fund Me page earlier this week to support the family, saying she hopes it will "remove a small amount of worry in his horrific, awful time".

"If you knew Caleb, you would know he was full of life and love," Mrs Richardson wrote.

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