HomeMy WebLinkAbout20220312KFD.pdfDEREK S.K. KAWAKAMI, MAYOR
MICHAEL A. DAHILIG, MANAGING DIRECTOR
News Release
For Immediate Release: March 12, 2022
COUNTY OF KAUA‘I
KAUA‘I FIRE DEPARTMENT
STEVEN R. GOBLE, CHIEF
(808) 241-4980
First responders locate missing Wailua man off waters at Kaiakea Point Friday
KEĀLIA – On Friday, first responders located a missing 40-year-old Wailua man in waters off
Kaiākea Point in Keālia.
No injuries were reported.
First responders were dispatched to search for a missing swimmer off waters at Kaiākea Point in
Keālia at approximately 4:10 p.m. on Friday.
Personnel from the Kaiākea fire station, the Ocean Safety Bureau’s North and East Roving Ski
Patrol, Keālia lifeguards, the Kaua‘i Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard, American Medical Response,
and Rescue 3 aboard Air 1 responded to the incident.
According to a preliminary report, a patient from Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital
apparently escaped the facility and jumped into the ocean near the vicinity of Kaiākea Point in Keālia.
First responders arrived on scene where the man apparently jumped. Rescuers later relocated
to Keālia Beach, near the river mouth. A first responder on a rescue board entered the water and
searched the area where the man was last spotted. Meanwhile, Ocean Safety Bureau East Roving Ski
Patrol personnel launched from the Kapa‘a Lihi. Kaiākea firefighters were then stationed in the vicinity
of the river mouth and surveyed from a hill. Keālia lifeguards conducted a shoreline search from Keālia
Beach to the area known as Pineapple Dump.
As Rescue 3 aboard Air 1 was deployed, Kaiākea firefighters relocated to Kamole Road for a
better vantage point of the search.
At approximately 5:55 p.m., the North Roving Ski Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard arrived on
scene. At approximately 6 p.m., a helicopter with the U.S. Coast Guard was deployed.
At approximately 6:50 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard reported that the missing man was found
approximately 2 miles north off waters at Kaiākea Point, where he was last seen. The Wailua man was
transported to Nāwiliwili Small Board Harbor, where he was met by family members and Kaua‘i Police
Department personnel. The man was cleared at Wilcox Medical Center before returning to Samuel
Mahelona Memorial Hospital.
First responders cleared the scene at approximately 7 p.m.
###