NAWILIWILI —The search for a missing 55-year-old Kilauea man continued Wednesday with rescue personnel from the Kaua‘i Fire Department, the U.S. Coast Guard and officers from the Kaua‘i Police Department.
All agencies are expected to continue the unified search effort at first light today.
The man, whose identity has not been released, did not return home after reportedly going for a run and then a swim sometime Tuesday afternoon.
The missing male was last heard from around noon Tuesday and there is a possibility he was swimming at the time his disappearance was reported.
His cooler was located on the beach by firefighters shortly after dark.
The air, land, and sea-based search started at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, states a county release.
The U.S. Coast Guard responded to the area with two vessels and a helicopter, and personnel were aided by night vision binoculars.
They searched the shoreline until roughly 11 p.m., while a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter conducted an aerial search throughout the night.
Sunrise on Wednesday brought a full team of rescuers joining the search, Rescue 3 doing a fly-over aboard Air 1, and later in the morning the Kaua‘i Fire Department Radon 1 was launched along with a pair of Jet skis from the Kaua‘i Ocean Safety Bureau.
Personnel from the state Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement joined the efforts.
Following the fly-over by Air 1, Kaua‘i Fire Department personnel said they did an assessment run using the Jet Skis and Radon 1.
Radon 1 utilized side scan sonar technology, which detects and creates images of objects in the ocean, to conduct a shoreline search from Ahukini Landing in Hanama‘ulu to Keoneloa Bay, also known as Shipwrecks, in Po‘ipu, according to a county press release.
The Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and Coast Guard Cutter Ahi, a coastal patrol boat, assisted in the search by following computer-modeled drift projections, the county reports.
Kaua‘i Police Department officers were stationed along the sea wall leading to the Nawiliwili Harbor jetty area, their eyes peeled for activity in the water.
According to the county release, KPD officers conducted a land-based search along the shoreline, from Ahukini Landing to Nawiliwili.
According to the National Weather Service, a high surf advisory continues through 6 p.m. Wednesday for all east-facing shores with strong tradewinds expected to create rough surf and large breaking waves along the shoreline.
County officials urge all beachgoers to swim within seeing distance of a lifeguard tower and “when in doubt, don’t go out.”
