4/11/09
Fire/Rescue units in Kona responded to a 10:49 a.m. alarm for a missing diver offshore 75-6026 Alii Drive in Kailua-Kona. Rescue crews included two helicopters and a rescue boat which searched the area for a 49 year-old missing man from San Francisco who had gone out spearfishing earlier in the morning with a dive partner. Fire Department divers found items apparently identified as belonging to the missing diver and Chopper One also spotted items which were retrieved and turned over to the police who are investigating the incident. The dive partner and wife of the missing diver were on shore at the scene.

UPDATED April 13, 2009
Karin Stanton/Hawaii247.org Contributing Editor
There were no new signs of a missing spearfisherman Monday in waters off Alii Drive. Big Island police are now handling the case, but have nothing new to report. Pieces of a wetsuit that washed up about 1 mile from where the 49-year-old San Francisco man was last seen Saturday morning tentatively have been identified as belonging to the missing man, said Reuben Chun, West Hawaii Fire battalion chief. Other pieces of gear found Saturday - including a glove, knife and knife case, as well as a mask, snorkel and weight belt - have not been verified as belonging to the spearfisherman, he said. The recovered items have been turned over to the police. report said it was not clear whether the spearfisherman might have encountered a shark. “We don't know,” he said. “We're really not sure.” Authorities typically call in marine experts to determine whether items recovered bear signs of a shark attack, but report said he was not sure if police have done so in this case. The man was reported missing shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday, April 11. He and his partner had been spearfishing for about four hours off Kona Makai Condominiums.  When the man failed to resurface, his dive partner became concerned and his wife called 911. The Fire Department launched a search and rescue effort, which continued through Sunday. report authorities see no connection between the missing spearfisherman and death of Victim 2, of Tecumseh, Mich., who was swimming the afternoon of April 7 off Pebble Beach in South Kona when she called for help. Victim 2 did not respond to resuscitation attempts and was pronounced dead at Kona Community Hospital. Autopsy results are pending. Anyone who saw the men spearfishing or who may have discovered gear in the area is urged call the West Hawaii Fire Administration or the Police Department nonemergency line at 

POLICE MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE (April 14, 2009 at 12:04 a.m.)
The Hawai'i Police Department is asking for the public's help in providing information about a California man who disappeared while spearfishing in Kona on Saturday (April 11). Victim 1 of San Francisco went spearfishing with a friend off shore fronting the Kona Makai condominiums at 6:45 a.m. The friend returned to shore at 9:30 a.m. At 10:47 a.m., he reported Victim 1 missing. Fire Department personnel located items belonging to the fisherman and turned them over to the Police Department. The case is classified as a missing person investigation. Police ask anyone who may have seen the fisherman to call the Police Department. 

Police: 

April 22, 2009 - Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

DNA tests have confirmed that a bone fragment recovered by the Hawaii Fire Department in waters off Ali'i Drive are those of 49-year-old Victim 1 of San Francisco, who was reported missing after spearfishing in Kailua-Kona, according to a Big Island police press release.
Kailua-kona                   