HILO — Fire and rescue crews today will continue searching for a Canadian tourist who went missing while visiting the Champagne Pond in Kapoho Sunday evening.
Logan Whitfield is a 31-year-old caucasian man described by family members as 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighing about 180 pounds, with short brown hair and a goatee. He was last seen wearing black shorts and Crocs sandals departing the vacation home he was staying at with his parents to walk toward Champagne Pond at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Whitfield has not been reported seen since.
Whitfield was reported missing at 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Although he reportedly told his parents he intended to go swimming in Champagne Pond, it is unclear whether he actually went there or if he ever entered the water.
However, the search for Whitfield has focused on the waters around the Pond. After he was reported missing, officers from the Hawaii fire and police departments searched the area with no success Sunday evening. On Monday, the search continued with support from a fire department rescue helicopter, dive crews and a U.S. Coast Guard fast-response cutter, the Oliver Berry.
Sam Gardner, search and rescue specialist with the Coast Guard, said the Oliver Berry is focused on searching the sea one mile out from land and beyond, while the fire department will focus on the waters between there and the shore. The search today will also include support from an additional helicopter, this one with the Coast Guard.
No personal items of Whitfield’s have been recovered. Although a bodyboard was found abandoned near the pond — mere meters away from a memorial for Savant — Gardner said Whitfield’s parents confirmed the item did not belong to Whitfield.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com