A 56-year-old man visiting Kaua’i from Northern California apparently drowned Friday afternoon in a stream located in mauka Wailua. His body was recovered in an area known as the Wailua Arboretum, near a swimming spot at the end of the
A 56-year-old man visiting Kaua’i from Northern California apparently drowned Friday afternoon in a stream located in mauka Wailua.
His body was recovered in an area known as the Wailua Arboretum, near a swimming spot at the end of the “Loop Road,” at about 5:20 p.m. Friday.
It was initially reported that the man was submerged for about two hours when his body was retrieved. The son was reportedly uninjured.
How the man and his 20-year-old son were swept into the stream wasn’t reported as of Friday night. Heavy rains in mauka areas may have caused the stream to be running stronger than usual.
It is also unknown who called in a request for emergency help, said Cyndi Mei Ozaki, public information officer for the County of Kaua’i. The call was received at 3:27 p.m. Friday afternoon.
Upon arrival on the scene County of Kaua’i firefighters walked up the stream and met the son who had made it unassisted to the bank of the stream.
Air 1 was called in to search the rescue scene by air as sections of the dense forest located along the stream in the area were impassable on foot.
The body was found 500 yards from the Loop Road crossing, Ozaki said.
The helicopter crew used a long-line rig to retrieve the man’s body.
The Kaua’i Hospice was called in to assist.
Paramedics from American Medical Response responded, but according to operations manager Zach Octavio, the man was not able to be resuscitated.
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