Search concludes for missing fishermen

The search concluded Saturday for a pair of fishermen who were believed to have been swept into the ocean in Ka‘u.

At 5:34 a.m. Thursday, family members reported that 62-year-old James Oyama, and 37-year-old Jay Jara, both of Na‘alehu, failed to return home from a shoreline fishing trip near Honuapo Bay, also known as Whittington Beach Park, the evening prior, according to the Hawaii Police Department, which opened a missing persons investigation in connection with the overdue fishermen.

Police and Hawaii Fire Department personnel began a ground search, later locating the victims’ two trucks and their personal items on Mill Road at 6:35 a.m. A fishing pole belonging to one of the men was set-up at the shoreline in an area exposed to high surf conditions.

The fire department’s helicopter was assisted by a United States Coast Guard helicopter and a C-130 aircraft with an aerial search. The Coast Guard said 28 separate searches were conducted, covering nearly 1,000 square nautical miles.

Oyama is described as being 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighing 190 pounds, having a medium build with gray hair and brown eyes.

Jara is described as being 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighing 140 pounds, having a medium build with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing blue denim jeans and a blue shirt.

Anyone who may have information about this incident is asked to call the police department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311 or Officer Dane Shibuya, of the Ka‘u Patrol Division, at 939-2520.