LIHU‘E — Almost a full week after Ryan Soper went missing in Wailua Valley, the Honolulu Police Department is sending a scent-tracking canine team today to aid in the search, officials said Tuesday. The 26-year-old visitor from Orem, Utah, has
LIHU‘E — Almost a full week after Ryan Soper went missing in Wailua Valley, the Honolulu Police Department is sending a scent-tracking canine team today to aid in the search, officials said Tuesday.
The 26-year-old visitor from Orem, Utah, has not been seen since Thursday when he and family members, including his wife Amie, went on a guided tour to Uluwehi “Secret” Falls. The tour involves kayaking up Wailua River and then hiking about 1.5 miles to the falls.
It was near the falls that the tour guide went up a tree and held onto a vine, Ryan’s father Michael Soper said Monday. Ryan did the same. While up in the tree, Amie asked that he pose for a photo with her parents, standing at the base of the treXe.
After the photo was taken, Ryan began to climb down when his foot became tangled in the vine, he lost his balance and fell 10 to 15 feet, landing on his mother-in-law’s foot and breaking her ankle in two places, Michael said.
As the group tended to the mother-in-law, Ryan reportedly walked on up the trail, asking to be left alone because he felt embarrassed. (The mother-in-law later received treatment at a hospital.)
Family members believe Ryan may have suffered a concussion in the fall and may be hurt somewhere in the dense foliage along the trail, Michael said.
The tour guide could not be reached for comment by press time.
An intensive four-day search ensued before rescue workers entered “passive mode” on Sunday.
The search included 10 state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement officers, four rescue specialists from the Kaua‘i County Lihu‘e fire station, firefighters from the Koloa and Waimea stations and members of a volunteer canine search and rescue team on Kaua‘i, according to officials.
The ground search on Friday, Saturday and Sunday covered the trail to the falls and areas off trail on both the north and south fork of the Wailua River on both state park and private lands, covering an area of approximately 300 acres. The search also included both sides of the Wailua River for several miles, with the assistance of a kayak company.
On Tuesday, DOCARE officers continued to search the Wailua River areas where Ryan was last seen. The Kaua‘i DOCARE branch chief was accompanied by Michael who showed him where the family had been and where he was last seen. Five volunteers from the Church of Latter Day Saints on Kaua‘i were also searching, according to DLNR spokeswoman Deborah Ward.
Today, a canine unit from the Honolulu Police Department consisting of two canine handlers with dogs and one supervisor and two Kaua‘i Police Department officers will be going up to Wailua River to search. Two DLNR enforcement officers, including the Kaua‘i branch chief, who has canine handling experience, will escort the HPD canine unit, Ward said in a news release.
Ryan’s father disputes an earlier county news release that says Ryan was acting “erratically” during the tour and that he “ran into the woods.”
“Obviously I am somewhat in disbelief this is happening and scared to death I’ll lose my only son — and my 5-year-old grandson will lose his dad,” Michael said in an e-mail Monday, noting that “everyone with whom I’ve talked on Kaua‘i has been supportive and interested in taking action to find my son.”
While the police search with canines is taking place this morning, no kayak tours will be allowed to land at the north fork of the Wailua River State Park and walk up the trail to Secret Falls, a state news release says. Kayakers will be allowed to paddle up the river, but not to land.
The kayak companies are being notified by the DLNR Boating and State Parks divisions, which manage the Wailua River State Park and kayak tour companies. In the afternoon, the kayak tours will be allowed to operate as normal, the release says.
Anyone with information that may help in the search is asked to contact DOCARE Kaua‘i’s branch office at 274-3521 or 346-3363, or the Kauai County Police Department at 241-1711.
• Nathan Eagle, managing editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 227) or neagle@kauaipubco.com.
