Posted on: Monday, May 12, 2003

Kayak business cleared in 1999 death

Advertiser Staff

A federal jury has found that a kayak rental company on Maui was not negligent in the death of a California woman who disappeared while kayaking four years go.

Extreme Sports Hawaii was sued by Manouchehr Monazzami-Taghadomi, of Sunnyvale, Calif., who reported that his wife, Nahid Davoodabadi, 29, was killed by a shark after their rented kayak was blown out to sea and capsized off Lahaina. He was rescued three days later on Kaho'olawe, six miles southwest of Maui.

The lawsuit claimed that the company shouldn't have rented the kayak to the couple on March 18, 1999, because a small-craft advisory was in effect at the time. The suit also alleged that the company failed to warn them of strong winds.

Ann Aratani, an attorney representing Extreme Sports Hawaii, said the company had told the couple to kayak in an area close to shore protected from winds.

Monazzami-Taghadomi and his wife's parents in Iran had sought $6 million in damages, Aratani said. The figure dropped to $2 million by the end of the three-week trial, she said.

Despite an extensive search, Davoodabadi's body was never found. Police have classified the incident a missing-person case.