Searches by Kaua’i County Police officers and firefighters continued throughout the day Thursday near Anini Beach on the North Shore for a missing snorkeler, but without any success. By 4 p.m., rescue personnel hadn’t reported finding Lillie Beden, 68, from
Searches by Kaua’i County Police officers and firefighters continued throughout the day Thursday near Anini Beach on the North Shore for a missing snorkeler, but without any success.
By 4 p.m., rescue personnel hadn’t reported finding Lillie Beden, 68, from Peck, Kan., as of 4 p.m. The search was expected to resume Friday morning.
In an apparent effort to broaden the search for Beden, police circulated fliers and a photo of the missing woman.
Yesterday, 11 firefighters and three police officers searched a channel near the end of Anini Beach Road, according to Fire Department battalion chief Paul Silva Sr.
Teams searched the shoreline on foot and a fire department Zodiac boat with divers plied the reef looking for signs of the woman, Silva said.
A two-hour aerial search by an Air-1 Inter-Island helicopter also failed to locate her, Silva said.
The air search was cut short after high surf reduced visibility in the water, he said.
Based on information from two beachgoers who said they saw someone matching the description of the missing woman, searchers probed the channel, one among several at Anini Beach, which has one of the largest reefs in Hawai’i.
Beden is 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighs about 130 pounds and was last seen wearing a a one-piece, turquoise bathing suit and a large white hat.
Officials said the woman was last seen at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, walking along the shoreline carrying snorkeling gear.
When she didn’t return from her outing, her husband, Cecil Beden, called authorities shortly before 6 p.m. for help. He told police that he could not confirm that his wife went into the water, according to authorities.
A helicopter and land search was conducted Wednesday afternoon, but was called off due to darkness.
A check was made for her at Wilcox Memorial Hospital, but no one fitting the woman’s description checked into the facility.
Near where the search was being conducted, a Wisconsin man and his son recently were caught in strong currents in another channel and nearly drowned.
Anyone with information on the missing woman is asked by officials to call police Lt. Alvin Seto at 241-6735 or police dispatch at 241-6711.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
