Today, it’s empty, the 11-year-old boy the lone survivor of an accident on Kaua'i in which his parents apparently drowned, leaving Daniel stranded thousands of miles away from his closest kin.

His parents, Terry and Debora Hantack, died yesterday when a wave swept them off a rocky ledge at Lumaha'i Beach, bringing the family’s Hawai'i vacation to a tragic close. They were 50 and 51, respectively.

Daniel, a sixth-grader at Liberty Middle School, was rescued by beachgoers but rescuers were unable to revive his parents. Cyndi Ozaki, Kaua'i county spokeswoman, said the results of the autopsy detailing the cause of the Hantacks’ death have not been released.

The boy was knocked down by the same wave, but the water pushed him down on the rocks while carrying his parents into the sea. Fellow beachgoers pulled him to safety.

Firefighters received an emergency call at 11:06 a.m. yesterday that a couple was in distress in the ocean off the point. A call a few minutes later reported that their bodies were motionless in the 4- to 5-foot surf, said Kaua'i Fire

Department Battalion Chief Edson Martin.

The family had been walking on the rock shelf fronting a small sandy beach at the eastern end of Lumaha'i, an area sometimes called Big Waikoko or Nurse’s Beach, for its role in the movie "South Pacific."

"From what bystanders described, it seemed like one big wave came up on the rocks and knocked them down," said Ozaki.

Lifeguards on personal watercraft rushed to the scene within minutes from neighboring Hanalei Bay and found the Hantacks being carried away by the current.

They were brought to shore, and beachgoers assisted in attempting cardiopulmonary resuscitation, without success. Fire Department crews arrived and attempted to revive the couple with a defibrillator.

Daniel is in foster care and while Ozaki said family members have been notified, Child Protective Services officials could not be reached for comment on which relative might be en route to take the child home.

Word of their deaths was spreading this morning through Edwardsville, a town about 25 miles from St. Louis. The Hantacks lived outside the town, in a rural area where they, like many other families, kept horses, said Kelly Tosh, one of their neighbors.

"They were very active and fun and always on the go, very outgoing," said Tosh, whose son is in the same Boy Scout troop as Daniel. "They were very protective of Daniel."

Terry Hantack was a self-employed social worker who kept a home office, where Debora was his secretary, Tosh said.

They were happy but no strangers to tragedy, she said. A few years ago, they lost a 3-year-old son when the child was trampled by a horse, and previously Mrs. Hantack had lost a pregnancy when a horse kicked her.

"We all lived out of town," she said. "My niece was supposed to go work for them, work with their horses, when they got back from Hawai'i."

The Hantacks had attended an annual spaghetti dinner with other families in Troop 91 on March 21, shortly before their departure for Hawai'i, Tosh said.

At Daniel’s schools, classmates have been counseled by social workers on how to cope with the tragedy, said Ed Hightower, superintendent of Edwardsville schools.

"From what I understand, he’s a very good student, liked by all of his peers," said Hightower. "Many kids hung out at their house; their yard was a play area for all the kids."

"It’s a tragic situation," he added. "Our hearts and our prayers go out to the Hantack family, and we will do everything possible to help him."

The shoreline at Nurse’s Beach has long been a popular one for visitors, who get to the sand and rocks along a steep pathway through a thicket of hala trees. Ozaki said that signs at the top of the trail warn of dangerous shorebreak and strong currents.

The area backing the beach was acquired from private owners by the state in 2001 but is not a developed beach park. At the time of the purchase, Gilbert Coloma-Agaran, who was chairman of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, said the state’s motive in acquiring it was simply to protect the open space and coastline, but not to create a formal beach park.

"My heart goes out to this young boy and his family," said Mayor Bryan Baptiste in a statement. "I would like to ask all of Kaua'i to keep this boy, who tragically lost his parents, and his family in their thoughts and prayers."