Fire and rescue crews will continue searching today for a Canadian tourist who went missing Sunday evening while visiting Champagne Pond in Kapoho.
Logan Whitfield is a 31-year-old white male described by family members as 5 feet, 10 inches tall, 180 pounds, with short brown hair and a goatee. He was last seen wearing black shorts and Crocs sandals, departing the vacation home he was staying at with his parents to walk toward Champagne Pond at about 6 p.m. Sunday.
Whitfield has not been reported seen since.
Whitfield was reported missing at 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Although he reportedly told his parents he intended to go swimming in Champagne Pond, it is unclear whether he actually went there or if he ever entered the water.
However, the search for Whitfield has focused on the waters around the pond. After he was reported missing, officers from the Hawaii fire and police departments searched the area with no success Sunday evening. On Monday, the search continued with support from a Fire Department rescue helicopter, dive crews and a U.S. Coast Guard fast-response cutter, the Oliver Berry.
Sam Gardner, search and rescue specialist with the Coast Guard, said the Oliver Berry is focused on searching the sea 1 mile out from land and beyond, while the Fire Department will focus on the waters between there and the shore. The search today also will include support from an additional helicopter, this one with the Coast Guard.
Gardner said the Coast Guard and Fire Department established a command post at a private vacation residence near the pond. The various search parties would “have a discussion” today regarding the continuation of the search, Gardner said.
Although weather conditions in the area were fair Sunday evening, residents noted that waters in the area can be treacherous.
“I always tell the kids, never swim alone,” said Jill Steele, who has lived near Champagne Pond with her husband, Drew Steele, for 26 years.
Drew Steele, a surfer, said the waters outside the pond are deceptively dangerous, particularly for a swimmer alone at night. In particular, he said, the ocean floor abruptly drops off by hundreds of feet just outside the surf line, which fuels a powerful current that can suck unwary swimmers out to sea.
“This sort of thing is all too common,” Drew Steele said.
In 2015, 33-year-old Kona woman Amber Marie Savant was swept out to sea by a rip current while free diving near the pond. Despite a four-day search involving divers, a helicopter and the Coast Guard, Savant’s body was never recovered.
No personal items of Whitfield’s have been recovered. Although a bodyboard was found abandoned near the pond — mere meters away from a memorial for Savant — Gardner said Whitfield’s parents confirmed the item did not belong to Whitfield.
“There are so many different aspects regarding survivability that I wouldn’t want to comment as to the chances (of Whitfield surviving),” Gardner said.
The Steeles, however, were less circumspect about Whitfield’s chances.
“If I was a betting man, I’d say they’ll never find him,” Drew Steele said.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com
