Search continues for woman’s body

Fire rescuers were still searching Wednesday for the body of a woman swept into the Wailuku River last Friday evening by rapidly rising flash-flood waters above Piihonua Falls in Hilo.

Fire Battalion Chief Darwin Okinaka said recovery efforts will continue through Friday, if the body isn’t found before then.

The apparent victim was described as a Caucasian woman in her mid-20s. A man told rescuers he was hiking with the woman above the falls when the pair were swept into the river. He was able to make his way to the river bank and get out of the rain-swollen stream, but was unable to find his companion.