Police haven’t identified a woman whose body was found Monday in Umauma Stream north of Hilo, but the family of a 62-year-old Texas woman said on a social media site that she disappeared May 27 after taking a zipline ride nearby.
Bobbie “Jackie” Carnathan was to have gotten on an airplane to fly out of Kona, according to the Facebook page “Find Jackie Carnathan.” The social media page put up by the woman’s daughters said the woman, who had moved from Honolulu to Kona a couple of months ago, was booked on a weeklong Alaska cruise. She was supposed to move back to Texas on June 12, the page said.
“From the description that we gave the police of what she was wearing when she was last seen, it matches the body that was found. We hope to have a definite positive identification by today,” a Tuesday post on the Facebook page said.
Carnathan’s own Facebook page said she is from San Antonio, while online searches show the woman also has lived in Austin, the state’s capital.
Carnathan had taken a zipline at Botanical World Adventures in Hakalau at about 9:30 a.m. May 27, and the zipline tour ended about 11 a.m., according to the “Find Jackie Carnathan” page.
She reportedly had gone to a nearby eatery afterwards with others who had taken the zipline. According to the social media site, that was the last confirmed time she was seen.
The family believes she had a couple of hours before catching a Hele-On bus back to Kona and may have walked or hiked somewhere at that point.
Carnathan reportedly didn’t show up for a massage appointment on May 28, didn’t contact family, and didn’t respond to phone calls, text messages, email messages or Facebook messages. The page described it as “very unusual” for her to be out of contact with the family.
Her daughters contacted Kona police and requested a wellness check on Carnathan last Friday at the Kona Bali Kai Resort, where she was staying. Police went to the apartment, but Carnathan was not there. A missing person report was filed on Saturday, and Carnathan family members flew to the Big Island on Sunday.
Police received a call at 11:30 a.m. about a woman’s body found in the stream near where Carnathan was seen last.
The body, which was partially submerged, has been recovered. Police said Tuesday the victim has not been positively identified, and an autopsy has been scheduled for today to determine the cause of death.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 935-3311.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
