The National Park Service is investigating the case of a Keaau woman who fell to her death at the Kilauea Crater during the weekend.
The National Park Service is investigating the case of a Keaau woman who fell to her death at the Kilauea Crater during the weekend.
The body of a 63-year-old woman was found within the Kilauea caldera Sunday morning after having apparently fallen to her death.
The woman, whose name was not disclosed pending notification of her family, was found a significant distance away from park trails, said Jessica Ferracane, spokeswoman for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
The woman’s family reported her missing at 10 a.m. Sunday after she had not been seen since Friday morning. When the family traced her cellphone to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, park rangers searched the area.
The woman’s vehicle was found at the Steam Vents parking lot. Rangers on a Hawaii police helicopter found her body at 11:30 a.m. at the base of Steaming Bluff.
Ferracane said the woman fell approximately 250 feet into the caldera, having evidently circumvented a simple wire barrier as well as significant natural obstacles such as cracks in the earth and steam vents.
Ferracane said the time of the woman’s death is still under investigation, but noted that the woman’s vehicle was present in the Steam Vents parking lot during an unrelated DUI arrest Friday evening.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
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