Hawaii Fire Department responded to a report of a missing paddler on Saturday.
At 10:36 am a report came in from the family that a 66-year-old male in a single person canoe was missing in the Honaunau bay area. The man was reported to be wearing black shorts and a white T-shirt. Hawaii Fire Department dispatched an air rescue chopper as well as rescue boat sea leg 7 immediately to assist in the search.
Reports show that a person fitting the description was witnessed by other boaters launching from the Honaunau Boat ramp at 5:50 am that morning. His car was found at the beach with his phone located inside. And at approximately 8 am a boat fishing in the area found an unmanned 19 foot blue, white and red canoe around 1 mile outside of the Honaunau Boat Ramp area.
HFD, Coast Guard, multiple volunteers searched by air, boat, jet ski, and walking along the shoreline with negative findings. Coast Guard remained to search throughout the night and HFD resumed the search at first light this morning. As of press time, the missing paddler has not been located.