Evidence specialist Leslie Ann Murakami yesterday examined a surfboard found near Ka'ena Point believed to be Courtney Marcher's. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

The 6-foot board was in good shape, but the tough plastic leash that tethered the surfer to her board was severed and had unusual markings.

Marcher, 22, was last seen Sunday after surfing at Velzeyland on O'ahu’s North Shore. On Wednesday, fishermen found her board three miles off the point.

"I think they have to work out what broke that leash," said Marcher’s North Shore roommate, Vince Bechet, a 33-year-old surfer from South Africa. "It’s hard to break a leash. It takes some pressure."

Bechet said he doesn’t think the serrated edge at the end of the severed leash was made by a shark bite. It’s possible that Marcher drowned and that both she and her board somehow got wedged under a reef, Bechet said. Then, as a large swell rose to 25-foot faces Monday, the leash was cut on the coral, he said.

Missing surfer Courtney Marcher, 5 feet 7 and 160 pounds, has blond hair and green eyes. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call Honolulu Police Department investigator Phil Camero at 529-3394.

Bechet believes that Marcher was lost at sea. Even though conditions were relatively calm when she was last seen, the waters off the North Shore are powerful.

Police asked state Shark Task Force member Randy Honebrink to look at the leash, but the examination was inconclusive, said Missing Persons Detail Officer Phil Camero. Honebrink last night declined to comment.

Honebrink told police that the marks on the leash resembled a shark bite, but he wanted a second opinion from colleagues, Camero said.

It is unclear what caused the leash to break, Camero said.

"We had it examined and we’ll continue to have it examined further before we make any final determination or analysis as far as how the leash was severed," he said.

Police may purchase the same type of leash and test it to see what kind of marks are made when it breaks, Camero said.

Family members said Marcher was a strong swimmer and in good shape, and they feared she may have been abducted.

Police now believe she got into trouble in the ocean. Ka'ena Point is about 18 miles from Velzeyland.

"At this point we do know that she was in the water and there’s a strong possibility that she did receive some trouble in the water," Camero said. "We have no evidence of foul play and the investigation does not lead in that direction at this time."

He added that Marcher was taking medication to control seizures, which she suffered since she was 14. Her mother said yesterday that the cause of the seizures was never identified, but that her daughter had not had one in many months.

Courtney’s half sister, Michelle McHugh, said the discovery of the surfboard was not good news and confirmed a gut feeling she’s had from the beginning. But she said her mother remains hopeful and is convinced that an attacker put the board in the water as a diversion.

"We’re all beginning to lose hope but my mom is trying to stay really strong," McHugh said. "She’s doing a good job, but. ..."

McHugh, 27, didn’t know many details about the board’s recovery but said she was surprised it didn’t come to shore. Experts have said the location of the board is consistent with currents along the North Shore, Camero said.

Every new piece of information has set the family on an emotional roller coaster, McHugh said.

"We’re all really struggling with this," McHugh said. "It’s been a tortuous few days. Just every imaginable emotion."