Search continues for missing fisherman

MAHUKONA — Charles Locklar and his uncle, Jesse Sparks, abandoned ship in the waters off Lapakahi State Park during the last hours of daylight Saturday.

Sparks made it safely to shore, but Locklar hasn’t been seen since.

The collaborative search effort between the Hawaii Fire Department, and the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy continued Monday from a base of operations at Mahukona, located a few miles north of where Locklar and Sparks initially entered the ocean.

“We’re searching north and south of where the boat went into the water,” said HFD Battalion Chief John Whitman, adding the department first got the emergency call sometime after sunset on Saturday. “We are conducting ground and nearshore searches, and the Coast Guard is searching farther out to sea.”

Helicopter crews from the Coast Guard have also been deployed in the search, as well as a Navy MH-60 helicopter crew from the Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay, Oahu.

Chase Cheek, a distant cousin and roommate of Locklar, said the missing 26-year-old moved to Hawaii Island from Phoenix with his aunt and uncle only six weeks ago, after his aunt took a position teaching at Kealakehe High School.

He described Locklar as a hard worker and a talented mechanic who was helping Cheek build his house and picking up work as a freelance mechanic around the Hawi community, as well as engaging in other odds and ends for income.

Cheek’s wife, Ashley, said Locklar couldn’t have been more thrilled with his new surroundings.

“He was stoked living out here,” she said. “He loved fishing, loved the water, loved everything about it.”

Sparks said both he and Locklar are seasoned fishermen and swimmers, so there was little reason to fret when the two took a 10-foot fishing boat out into the water Saturday looking to catch dinner.

The plan was to cast a couple lines, and if they found no luck, head back into nearshore waters and try their hands at spearfishing. But they never got that chance.

The wind began pushing the boat a little too far out to sea, but when the pair tried to start the electric motor, it failed. They turned to the emergency paddles, Sparks said, but the situation only deteriorated from there.

“Those paddles are garbage, so they started folding up and we couldn’t get anywhere,” explained Sparks Monday after meeting with the search and rescue team at Mahukona for an update. “We started drifting out toward Kawaihae, further away from shore. A couple of waves hit the boat and came over the side, and we were sitting in a foot of water. Then a swell came up under the front of the boat, hit the bow and flipped it over.”

At that point, with the sun still high enough to light their way, the two began to swim. They were roughly a half mile from shore.

Sparks said they started out together, but soon, Locklar was well ahead of him.

“He’s 20 years younger and in a whole lot better shape,” Sparks said. “The last time I saw him, he looked like he was a couple of football fields away from (shore), and he kind of waved to me like, ‘Come on! Let’s go.’”

But Sparks was slowed by more than just his age. He said he suffered a sting from a jellyfish and barely made it to shore. He finally found land sometime just after sunset.

There, he encountered a couple who called 911 and helped him to their vehicle. They made their way to the truck Sparks and Locklar had used to transport the boat to the ocean, but Locklar was nowhere to be found.

Nearly 48 hours since he was last seen, his uncle still holds out hope that somewhere, his nephew might be all right.

“I’m hoping that since we’ve searched this shore, and with the way the current was going, he might end up on the shore in Maui — a John Doe in the hospital over there unable to tell them who he is,” Sparks said. “That’s the only hope left.”

Cheek and his wife were composed but somewhat despondent as they respectfully recalled the details of receiving the call Saturday night and the two subsequent, difficult days.

Their plan had been to cook the fish Sparks and Locklar caught and sit down to a game of poker. But the poker table remained empty as dusk stretched into evening Saturday and the family combed the shore searching for Locklar.

“When we got the call about the accident, we didn’t know exactly what was going on,” Cheek said. “We rushed down, but there was no sign of Charles anywhere.

“It’s surreal. Like a bad dream.”

Hawaii Island police urge anyone with any information on Locklar’s disappearance to call the Hawaii Police Department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311.

The Coast Guard has also issued an alert to mariners to look out for any sightings or other information that may be helpful. Anyone with information is asked to reach out to the Sector Honolulu Command Center at 842-2600.