KEAAU, Hawaii (KITV4) -- Big Island police is asking the public for information on a possible missing diver, last seen in waters near the cliffs at the end of Beach Road in Hawaiian Paradise Park in Keaau on Monday.
Rescuers with the Hawaii Island Fire Department were called out to the beach around 1 p.m. on Monday to reports about the missing diver. Witnesses told rescue crews they’d seen a man about 300 yards offshore with a light-colored buoy connected to a red rope. Then the man vanished from sight.
A fire department helicopter searched the area in the water and along the coastline but the diver was nowhere to be found. A buoy matching the description given by witnesses was recovered from the water.
Big Island police officers say they did not find a vehicle in the area that may belong to the missing man.
The diver was described by witnesses as a local, possibly in his 40s, with short, dark-colored shorts and an unspecified tattoo on his back. He was wearing a mask, fins, and had a fish bag.
Anyone with information about this case, or if you recognize the buoy, you are asked to call the police department’s non-emergency number at 808-935-3311, or Detective Kimo Keliipaakaua of the Area I Criminal Investigation Section at 808-961-2375.