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Police identified a 72-year-old man who apparently drowned early Sunday morning in Puna as Gabriel DeSilva of Pahoa.
At about 6 a.m., officers responded to a report of a swimmer in distress at Kehena Beach. Bystanders extracted DeSilva from the ocean and began CPR until personnel from the Hawaii Fire Department arrived and continued life saving measures.
However, attempts to resuscitate DeSilva were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at 8:10 a.m. at Hilo Medical Center.
A coroner’s inquest has been opened and an autopsy ordered to determine the exact cause of death. Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the police non-emergency line at (808) 935-3311.