Posted on: Thursday, August 22, 2002

Coast Guard ends hunt for fisherman

Advertiser Staff

The Coast Guard last night suspended its search for a Big Island man who was reported missing at sea more than a week ago.

Jason Henderson, 30, has not been seen since he left on a day-long fishing trip Aug. 14 in a 12-foot Zodiac boat. Henderson left Mahukona Harbor early that day and was spotted by a fisherman at 6 p.m.

When he failed to return that evening, his father-in-law, Ronald Noa, notified the Hawai'i Fire Department. The Coast Guard and Navy joined the Fire Department Aug. 15 to search for Henderson in waters off the northwest tip of the Big Island.

A Coast Guard C-130 and Navy P-3C from O'ahu searched daily and covered more than 220,000 square miles of ocean. There were no sightings of Henderson, his boat, or any debris.

Coast Guard spokesman David Mosley said the decision to call off the search was made at 8:15 p.m. He said Henderson's family was notified.

"The Coast Guard feels that (given) the amount of water searched, that enough time has gone by to call off the search," Mosley said. "It's unfortunate that we couldn't find the gentleman."

The name of Ronald Noa was misspelled in a previous version of this story because of a reporter’s error.