Rescue crews are still searching for a missing 13-year-old boy who jumped off a cliff Sunday at Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area and failed to resurface.
Rescue crews are still searching for a missing 13-year-old boy who jumped off a cliff Sunday at Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area and failed to resurface.
Authorities have not released the boy’s identity, but say he was last seen wearing a black shirt and black shorts. Rescuers with the Hawaii County Fire Department and U.S. Coast Guard have been looking for the boy since 10:21 a.m. Sunday and are now calling the search “a recovery.” As of press time Monday, the search had yet to yield results.
West Hawaii Battalion Fire Chief Reuben Chun said all rescue crews were doing what they can to locate the boy. The search continues Tuesday, however, no sign of the boy has been found.
He expressed appreciation for the public’s interest, as well as offers to help. He asked those in the area to keep an eye out, stay safe, and contact the appropriate authorities if they have any useful information.
Facing surgy ocean conditions, poor visibility, unpredictable currents and strong offshore winds Monday, Fire Department divers stuck close to the approximately 15-foot cliff, known as “Jump Rock,” and the area just south of the popular beach where the boy was last seen. Participating in the search around 11 a.m. Monday were seven Fire Department personnel on a rescue boat, three working from shore and a crew abroad a county helicopter. The Fire Department’s search extended roughly 1.5 miles from shore while the Coast Guard searched even deeper in the ocean.
Among the types of searches conducted Monday was a pendulum search, which consisted of attaching divers to an end of the rope while a tender remains stationed on the shore, controlling the rope and the amount given or taken in. The divers in the water moved in concentric arcs, each one taking them farther and farther from the shore. This semicircle pattern allows the divers to effectively sweep the underwater bottom in sections and overlap so “we’re not missing anything,” Chun said.
The Coast Guard used an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and crew from Air Station Barbers Point and the Coast Guard Cutter Kiska, a 110-foot patrol boat based out of Hilo. The Coast Guard also provided the Fire Department information from its Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System, or SAROPS, a program that simulates the drift trajectory for search objects.
“Rescue planning is both an art and a science,” said Lt. Scott Branner of Coast Guard Sector Honolulu Command Center. “Tools like this one allow us to better support the Fire Department on this joint effort and help ensure effective use of resources as we work together on scene.”
Branner described SAROPS as a Monte Carlo-based system using thousands of simulations or replications, also known as particles, to make hundreds of guesses about where and when a person or boat in the water got in trouble, as well as where they might end up. Environmental data like wind and current data are also factored in. All of the scenarios have a weighting as to which is most probable; thus making this tool valuable for rescuers in coordinating and determining their optimal search plan. SAROPS allows agencies to optimally place all the available resources, such as rescuers and their air and sea craft, so they have the greatest possible chance of finding the missing person or boat in an area, he added.
Responding to the 10:04 a.m. report Sunday, rescue personnel arrived at the beach to find a handful of lifeguards actively searching for the boy amid moderate surf and wind conditions. The boy had reportedly jumped off the cliff with two other 13-year-old boys, but was unable to get out of the water. The two other boys subsequently reported him missing, according to the Fire Department, the lead agency in charge of the search.
In its press release issued Sunday evening, the Fire Department said the boy “could not swim and jumped in.”
Sunday’s search included crews aboard two Hawaii County helicopters and a rescue boat, as well as divers. Fire department personnel and lifeguards searched the coastline. Several lifeguards stayed after their shifts and worked overtime to continue assisting in the search. The Coast Guard is also involved in the effort.
The Coast Guard late Monday suspended its active search for the boy, however, it will continue to support the fire department’s search effort with crews aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Kiska and Coast Guard Auxiliary aircraft. The Coast Guard said it searched 219 square miles.