Boater found dead off Kaneohe was Pearl-based sailor
Posted: Mar 06, 2010 6:14 PM Updated: Mar 08, 2010 2:41 PM

KANEOHE (HawaiiNewsNow) - A boater who went missing off the coast of Windward Oahu has been identified as a Pearl Harbor-based sailor. The Navy says Electricians Mate 1st Class was recovered Saturday by lifeguards about 20 yards from the Pyramid Rock Beach on Marine Corps Base Hawaii. He was 29.

Rescue crews received calls Friday night about a man in distress on a life raft after flares were sighted. Marine rescue swimmers, rescue boats and the Honolulu Fire Department responded. But officials say reduced visibility and high surf prevented rescuers from reaching victim before losing sight of him. The search continued overnight and into Saturday.

The Navy says the death is under investigation. victim was assigned to the USS Olympia.

Navy sailor identified as man who died in waters off Kaneohe Marine base

By Star-Bulletin staff

POSTED: 01:45 p.m. HST, Mar 08, 2010

Share 
0 Comments
(Single Page View) | Return to Paginated View

 

The body recovered from the water just off Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Saturday has been identified as a 29-year-old Navy sailor from Kentucky.

Navy officials today identified him, an electrician's mate aboard the Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Olympia.

The victim’s body was found Saturday in the water about 65 feet from Pyramid Rock Beach. First responders from the base had been alerted to flares sighted in the air near the beach at 6:20 p.m. Friday. victim was spotted in distress on a life raft, Navy officials said.

Marine and Honolulu Fire Department rescuers responded, but poor visibility and high surf prevented them from reaching victim before losing sight of him, officials said. Rescuers, with the help of the U.S. Coast Guard, continue to search for him overnight, but his body was found by Marine lifeguards later Saturday.  No wreckage of a boat has been located, officials said. 

The victim joined the Navy in June 1998 and was assigned to USS Olympia May 30, 2007. He had also served at the Trident Training Facility in Kings Bay, Ga., and aboard the USS Nebraska.

The Olympia crew will hold a memorial service for victim this week at the Submarine Memorial Chapel at Pearl Harbor.
Kaneohe                       