KALALAU — Susan Pearson of Washington and Lloyd Pearson of California flew to Kaua’i on a mission in late November to find their lost 22-year-old son. But they gave up after they discovered his abandoned campsite in Hanakapia’i Valley on
KALALAU — Susan Pearson of Washington and Lloyd Pearson of California flew to
Kaua’i on a mission in late November to find their lost 22-year-old
son.
But they gave up after they discovered his abandoned campsite in
Hanakapia’i Valley on Dec. 2 — the first day of a four-day search of the
Kalalau Trail.
Atticus Pearson of Clearwater, Wash., was last seen in
Hanalei last January.
Before his disappearance, he told his parents he
planned to hike to Kalalau Beach.
Susan Pearson, her daughter Isis, David
Parker, Pearson’s uncle, and friends of Pearson also couldn’t find any signs
of him on their 9-mile hike to Kalalau Beach.
On Dec. 5, the family
abandoned their search and concluded Pearson either drowned off Hanakapia’i
Beach or died after he injured himself on the trail and wasn’t able to get
help.
The family is planning to return to the Mainland today, but say they
will return to the island to remember him.
“He is here,” Lloyd Pearson
said. “He is part of this island and this island is a part of our family.”
In January, Atticus Pearson and a female companion flew from Clearwater,
Wash., to Kaua’i planning to stay two weeks, but, his mother said, her son
stayed longer because he fell in love with the island’s lush beauty.
“He
wanted to come to a tropical island like Kaua’i, to grow fruits and
vegetables,” she said. “He was a very earthy person.”
`Pearson’s
parents became worried when he didn’t contact them for months.
In May, his
mother filed a missing person’s report with the Kaua’i Police
Department.
The family, Lloyd Pearson said, didn’t seek help any sooner
because they thought their son was not in any danger.
Kauai police say
they didn’t initiate an investigation because there is no evidence Pearson’s
disappearance is linked to a crime. Department of Land and Natural Resources
personnel searched the Na Pali Coast, but found no signs of him.
Air One
Helicopter also offered to conduct an aerial search, but the Pearsons declined
the offer after it became apparent Pearson was not likely to be found, said
Lloyd Pearson.
The Pearsons and other family members said only a letter
they received from Don Barmebey of Hanalei has given them any clue as to what
might have happened to their son.
Barmebey said he met Pearson at Polihale
Beach Park in early January and talked with him for three hours.
Barmebey
said he told Pearson about the different valleys and streams on the Na Pali
Coast and they parted company.
While in the Hanakapia’i Beach area in
March, Barmebey said he got a glimpse of a tarp that he later learned was part
of Pearson’s campsite.
But he said he didn’t stop to investigate because
he was in a hurry to leave the valley to get to town.
A month or so later,
Barmebey said he returned to Hanakapia’i and came across two hikers who had
come across the campsite Barmebey had seen in March.
He said he found a
tarp, hammock, blankets and a backpack at the campsite, which seemed to have
been abandoned.
He said he also found papers with Pearson’s name on them
and a book that Pearson had with him at Polihale in January.
From what he
saw, Barmebey surmised Pearson had abandoned the camping goods and had
returned to the Mainland.
He salvaged the backpack, repaired it and used
it.
It didn’t dawn on him that Pearson might have gotten into trouble
along the coast until July, when he saw a missing person’s poster of him at
Hanakapia’i and Kalalau beaches, he said.
Barmebey later met Christian
David, a friend of Pearson, on the trail and told him about the abandoned
campsite.
In the letter, Barmebey speculated Pearson could have drowned.
Pearson camped near a stream during the rainy season, and could have been swept
out to sea by flashflooding, Barmebey said.
While searching for Pearson’s
whereabouts in the valley, the Pearsons had hoped the female companion who
traveled with him to Kaua’i from Washington could help locate their son.
Pearson and the female buried their money and some clothes not far from
the start of the Hanakapia’i Trail before they started their hike, the Pearsons
said.
Pearson’s companion left the valley early and took her share, they
said, but Pearson’s share of the money was untouched.
More than dozen
campers and Pearson’s family celebrated Pearson’s memory with a party at
Kalalau Beach on the night of Dec. 4.
Pearson stands 5 feet, 11 inches
tall, weighs 150 pounds, has blue eyes and long, brown hair he wears in a
braid.
Anyone who has seen him is asked to call his family at
1-888-218-7129, Kaua’i Realtor Sterling C. Chisholm at 635-0494 or 828-2156 or
Kaua’i Police Lt. Alvin Seto at 241-6711.
Anyone with information that
results in Pearson being found is eligible for a cash reward through the
CrimeStoppers Program, which is sponsored by the Kaua’i Chamber of Commerce and
administered by the Kaua’i police.
