'AHUIMANU — The search for a 90-year-old man who wandered from his son's home Friday ended yesterday when a family member found the body of Federico "Donato" Balderas in a wooded area less than a quarter-mile away.

"I would have liked for it to have ended up under different circumstances, but it's also good to have closure," said Randy Iaea, who is married to one of Balderas' granddaughters.

Iaea, one of the volunteers in the search party that had been working the area, found Balderas' body about 50 feet above a dry streambed northeast of Hui Iwa Place, in the Hokuloa subdivision near Valley of the Temples Memorial Park.

"It looks like he was coming down toward the river bed, slipped and fell," said Iaea, a state airports crash and fire rescue specialist.

It was the second time in a week that an elderly person was found dead on O'ahu after wandering away from home. On Aug. 1, the body of Kapahulu resident Elaine Uyeda, 86, was found near the entrance to Diamond Head Crater.

In addition, Robert "Bobby" Amaral, 77, has been missing on Lana'i since July 29.

Balderas and Amaral suffer from dementia; Uyeda was an Alzheimer's sufferer.

Balderas was a well known hunter and fisherman on Lana'i, where he lived. About a week ago he flew to O'ahu without telling anyone and took a cab to the home of his only son, Rodrigo, said Monica Borges, one of Balderas' daughters.

It was a surprise visit and he just wanted to talk to his son about "things," Borges said. Balderas' wife of 71 years, Leonora, died 16 months ago and he missed her, Borges said.

Balderas' skill as a hunter and fisherman on Lana'i are legendary, his family said. Borges said "Donato's" and "51" are two of about a half-dozen trails named after, or by, her father on the island.

Balderas used a fishing technique that grandson Albert Ranis of Moloka'i described as kind of "ridiculous" but it worked. Balderas would use a bamboo pole to catch a blue mamo and use it as live bait to catch huge ulua. The bait was attached to a large bamboo pole with a line running through two layers of tire tubing that was tied to a rock.

"When the ulua hit, he didn't do anything because the line was tied to the rock," Ranis said. "He just waited for the ulua to tire itself out. And then he'd pull it up the cliff. My grandpa didn't use a cooler. He put the fish in a tidal pool. When he was ready to leave, he'd tie a 75-pound ulua to his back and go home."

Balderas also had an amazing green thumb, relative said. "My backyard was full of weeds and in three weeks, my father had pumpkins and lettuce growing," Borges said.

Balderas was last seen at his son's house about 6:45 a.m. Friday.

The search went on through the weekend and resume yesterday with Fire Department specialists from Rescue 2 and its helicopter, and state Department of Land and Natural Resources and police Specialized Services Division personnel. The plan was to search northeast of an area between Hui Iwa Place and Hui Akepa Place. Balderas' handkerchief had been found Saturday morning and his prescription glasses Sunday afternoon in the area.

"It's a huge area and on a rise but we wanted to focus below, in the area of the stream bed," said Honolulu Police Department missing persons investigator Philip Camero.

Iaea said he had worked an area on the side of a marsh when he decided to climb a ridge for a look below. It was then that Iaea lined up a sightline where the handkerchief and glasses were found and decided to search below. He found Balderas' body about 1:15 p.m.

Camero was with the members of the Balderas family in a mini-park on Hui Iwa Street when he got the call that the search was over. Camero has done it often in his 11 years with the missing persons detail but notifying this family would be more heartbreaking than usual.

Camero is from Lana'i, knows Balderas' family and as a young boy picking pineapples in the fields, came to know "Donato" the truck driver well.

"It's hard to tell family that their loved one has passed away," Camero said, "but in the same breath I know that it helps the family because they can move on, have closure and say goodbye. I really believe, too, that all the search and rescue personnel involved have the same heart that we want to find them in time but if we can't, ultimately we just want to find them."

Although the searches for Balderas and Uyeda ended tragically, Camero took note of searches that had happy endings, such as that for hiker Karis Johns, 27, in Nu'uanu Valley in July and Richard Hadama, 74, at Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden in May.

"I think if it wasn't for my faith and belief in God and the support of my partners, Detective Jill Kaui and James Vasconcellos, I wouldn't be able to be doing this for so long," Camero said.

Balderas is survived by his son, five daughters, 19 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.