Hawaii Island police on Friday discovered a body in the Wainaku area along the coastline of Hilo Bay, according to an HPD release Wednesday.
HPD subsequently identified the body as 61 year-old George Novinger, of Spring Valley, California, by way of dental records.
Novinger was swept down the Wailuku River Nov. 25, after he and his wife Gladys, 62, fell into the water trying to cross the river above Rainbow Falls.
Police and fire personnel responded to the Rainbow Falls State Park in Hilo and extricated Gladys by helicopter from a pool below the falls. She was transported to the Hilo Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 4:25 p.m. that day.
Rescue personnel continued to search for her husband for several days. Last Friday, police and fire personnel responded to the 26-200 block of the Hawaii Belt Road (Highway 19) in Wainaku, where they found what they later identified as Novinger’s body at the bottom of a 35-foot cliff along the shoreline. He was officially pronounced dead at Hilo Medical Center at 3:35 p.m on Friday.
Detectives from the Area I Criminal Investigation Section continue to investigate. Autopsies on both victims have already been performed, but police have deferred the cause of death pending toxicology results. Preliminary results indicate both died as a result of fresh water drowning, according to the HPD release.
Police request anyone with information about this incident call the department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311 or Detective Dean Uyetake of the Area I Criminal Investigation Section at 961-2379. He can also be contacted via email at Dean.Uyetake@hawaiicounty.gov.