Search efforts Friday failed to find any sign of a man missing while reportedly diving Wednesday in waters off Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park in South Kona. Search efforts Friday failed to find any sign of a man missing
Search efforts Friday failed to find any sign of a man missing while reportedly diving Wednesday in waters off Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park in South Kona.
Kealakekua resident Jeremiah Nathan, 42, was reported missing about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, shortly after a friend located Nathan’s pickup truck at the park entrance, said Hawaii Fire Department Special Operations Battalion Chief Gerald Kosaki and the Hawaii Police Department. Nathan apparently failed to return to the friend’s home Wednesday evening and also did not board an 8 a.m. flight to the mainland.
Kosaki said fire rescue personnel found Nathan’s wallet, keys and cellphone inside the cab, but were unable to locate his dive gear. He added a park employee reported seeing the man about 4 p.m. walking in a wetsuit and carrying dive gear. He was said to have gone diving at “two step.”
Police said Nathan is Caucasian, 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with green eyes and short brown hair. He also has a tattoo across his chest with Arabic-type lettering.
Search efforts Thursday evening included personnel conducting shoreline and aerial surveys extending 1 mile north and south of the park, according to the Fire Department. The search was subsequently suspended because of darkness; it resumed at first light Friday.
On Friday, Kosaki said, the department conducted ground and aerial surveys extending two miles north and south of the park. County rescue divers also scoured the water.
The U.S. Coast Guard 110-foot Cutter Kiska and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter assisted in the search, according to the Coast Guard District 14 office in Honolulu. The Coast Guard also deployed drift buoys indicating the current was flowing northward, Kosaki said.
Search efforts for the man will resume at first light today, Kosaki said. The search is expected to continue through Sunday.
Anyone with information on Nathan’s whereabouts should call Officer Bradden Kimura at 326-4646, ext. 253, or the department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311. Those who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 329-8181 in Kona or 961-8300 in Hilo. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.
