Search continues for missing Big Island boater

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Coast Guard resumed its search today for a 30-year-old man reported missing on a 12-foot Zodiac boat off the Big Island.

Jason Henderson of the Big Island was reported overdue from a fishing trip Wednesday night.

Henderson's mother-in-law said he left Mahukona Harbor at about 10 a.m. Wednesday. When he did not return by 10 p.m. that day she notified authorities.

The Hawai'i Fire Department searched the shoreline with two helicopters yesterday morning and asked the Coast Guard to help. A Coast Guard C-130 airplane and HH-65 rescue helicopter from O'ahu joined the search at 8:45 a.m. yesterday.

Coast Guard spokeswoman Lauren Smith said fishermen reported seeing Henderson at 6 p.m. Wednesday about a half-mile off shore. She said there was no indication that he was in trouble.

The C-130 searched all night yesterday and covered a 1,200-square-mile area. A Navy P-3 Orion aircraft joined the C-130 at first light this morning, Smith said.

Henderson had a cellular phone with him, but Smith said he could not be contacted because the phone was out of range. She said boaters should not depend on cellular phones in emergencies.

All boats should be equipped with a VHF-FM radio or an emergency position-indicating radio beacon, (EPIRB), she said. An EPIRB sends signals that enable the Coast Guard to determine who is in trouble and where the vessel is.

"These items can be purchased relatively cheaply and can mean the difference between a three-hour search and three-day search," Smith said.