LIHU’E — An autopsy has been requested by the Kaua’i police for a woman whose body was found floating off Hanakoa Beach Saturday afternoon. The autopsy for the woman, whose name was not released, was expected to be done at
LIHU’E — An autopsy has been requested by the Kaua’i police for a woman whose
body was found floating off Hanakoa Beach Saturday afternoon.
The autopsy
for the woman, whose name was not released, was expected to be done at Wilcox
Memorial Hospital.
The autopsy is a routine procedure. The death is not
considered suspicious by authorities.
If the woman died as a result of
drowning, it would be the eighth drowning on Kaua’i this year. The last
drowning occurred on May 25, involving a California man.
In the latest
incident, the victim apparently was sucked out of the lagoon at Ke’e Beach
while swimming before 4 p.m. Saturday and couldn’t make it back to shore,
authorities said.
The rescue operation began following reports of a
disoriented male at Ke’e Beach. The man was the husband of the victim and was
reported to be in ill health.
Three hours into the search by police,
firefighters from Hanalei and a search and rescue team from the LIhu’e Fire
Station, an Inter-Island Helicopter spotted the body 150 yards off Hanakoa
Beach, about 4.5 miles from Ke’e Beach, where the woman was initially reported
missing.
Two county lifeguards from Hanalei Bay recovered the body and took
it to Hanokoa Beach. The body was then taken taken to the hospital, according
to Capt. Jay Harms of the Hanalei fire station.
Staff writer Lester Chang
can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net
