KEALIA — First responders located a missing Wailua man in the waters off Kaiakea Point after he had apparently jumped off a cliff.
No injuries were reported Friday when first responders were dispatched to search for a missing swimmer off waters Kealia around 4:10 p.m. on Friday.
Personnel from the Kaua‘i Fire Department’s Kaiakea station, the Ocean Safety Bureau’s roving personal watercraft, Kealia lifeguards, the Lihu‘e station rescue specialists, the emergency helicopter, Kaua‘i Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard and American Medical Response responded to the incident.
According to a preliminary report, a patient from Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital apparently escaped the facility and jumped into the ocean in this area.
First responders arrived on scene where the man apparently jumped. Rescuers later relocated to Kealia Beach, near the Kapa‘a Stream river mouth.
A first responder on a rescue board entered the water and searched the area where the man was last spotted. Meanwhile, OSB lifeguards aboard personal watercraft launched from the Kapa‘a’s Lihi Park.
Kaiakea firefighters were then stationed in the vicinity of the river mouth and surveyed from a hill. Kealia lifeguards conducted a shoreline search from Kealia Beach to the area known as Pineapple Dump.
As the emergency helicopter was deployed, Kaiakea firefighters relocated to Kamole Road for a better vantage point of the search.
Around 5:55 p.m., OSB lifeguards on personal watercraft and the USCG arrived on scene, and around 6 p.m. a USCG helicopter was deployed.
By 6:50 p.m., the USCG reported that the missing man was found about 2 miles north of Kaiakea Point, where he was last seen.
The Wailua man was transported to Nawiliwili Small Board Harbor, where he was met by family members and KPD personnel. The man was cleared at Wilcox Medical Center before returning to SMMH.
