Searchers to check old trail

By Rod Ohira and Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writers

Another day of searching for a 78-year-old hiker missing since Sunday along a Nu'uanu trail turned up no clues yesterday, but authorities plan to continue their effort this morning.

Rescue firefighters near Nu'uanu Pali Drive look toward the mountains where George Morishima was last seen. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

"We're going back out at first light (today)," said Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Kenison Tejada. "We think he may have taken an older trail as a possible shortcut, but we haven't been able to check all of that trail because it's difficult to access."

Yesterday's dawn-to-dusk search included manpower from Honolulu police and fire departments, state Department of Land and Natural Resources, volunteers from the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club and members of Morishima's family. Police and fire helicopters, along with police search dogs, were also used.

Rescuers yesterday searched a separate Nu'uanu trail above Judd Trail that Morishima may have taken as a shortcut back to his car. Fire crews yesterday rappelled down the cliffside of the steeper trail to see if Morishima may have fallen, Tejada said. Police before daybreak yesterday used an infrared camera attached to its helicopter to detect body heat on the ground, but turned up nothing.

Two of four hikers who met up briefly with Morishima late Sunday afternoon on the lookout ridge of Judd Trail in Nu'uanu were among the volunteers searching for the 'Aiea resident yesterday.

Ron Montanaro last saw Morishima taking the shortcut trail back down with darkness approaching at about 5:45 p.m. Sunday. The area is overgrown with brush but Morishima had a machete, Montanaro said.

Mabel Kekina, volunteer coordinator for the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, was among the searchers. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Dr. Russell Tabata, a dentist and a companion, saw Morishima twice on Sunday on the ridge, where they had set up a campsite. Tabata, who joined 10 Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club volunteers in a search yesterday, said Morishima told him he had been unsuccessful in his attempt to gather much edible bamboo shoots and fungus for traditional Japanese New Year's Day food dishes, such as nishime.

Morishima was not on the main trail but cutting through brush on an old trail, Tabata said. Morishima was headed back down on the old trail at about 6:30 p.m. when Tabata last saw him.

"He mentioned something about another trail and seemed confident he could get out," Tabata said. "If we thought otherwise, we would have asked him to stay with us."

Morishima's family members huddled about 100 yards down from the official fire rescue/police staging area on Nu'uanu Pali Drive. Several relatives were planning to search on their own.

"He must have fallen somewhere and is probably hurt," said Morishima's son Arnold. "He didn't have any water or food. He would have come out by now if he wasn't hurt."

Arnold Morishima said his father is independent and left for the hike Sunday without telling anyone where he was going. He only told a grandson that "he was going someplace far," Arnold Morishima said.

Relatives went to Nu'uanu to look for Morishima when he did not return home by nightfall, guessing that he might have gone hiking for bamboo shoots and fungus. Morishima suffered a mild stroke recently but was in reasonably good health, his son said.

Mabel Kekina of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club said volunteers planned to search yesterday from the Nu'uanu Lookout toward Pauoa Flats and Tantalus.

"The family is holding up as best as can be expected, but it's New Year's Eve, and we know they want their father and grandfather home," Tejada said. "We're just crossing our fingers, and we'll be out there looking again in the morning."