Advertiser Staff Writer

Authorities on Maui have suspended their search for a missing hiker who was believed to have jumped into a raging stream Saturday afternoon in Haleakala National Park, possibly being swept to sea.

The hiker was presumed dead, and recovery personnel were not expected to start looking for a body until the flooded stream waters subside in a few days, a parks spokesman said.

Members of the National Parks Service, Maui police and fire departments and the Coast Guard had been searching for Kihei resident Edward Pedrick Jr., 27, after two others he was hiking with reported him missing about 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Oheo Gulch near Hana.

Poor weather and rough stream conditions prompted rescue personnel to suspend their search this afternoon.

Pedrick had told his two companions that he intended to jump into the stream, even though both tried to persuade him not to because of the rough conditions, according to Kiefer Gier, operations supervisor for the park. The stream had been closed because of flooding.

As the two companions continued hiking, they heard a splash but didn't actually see Pedrick jump into the water, Gier said.

When Pedrick didn't resurface, the pair notified a park ranger, prompting land-and-air searches, which were hampered by heavy rain and thick clouds. A sandal matching the description of Pedrick's footwear was found in the stream, Gier said.

The water was too rough to permit scuba divers to join in the search.

A Coast Guard aircraft began searching for Pedrick Saturday night because of the possibility that he had been swept out to sea. The spot where Pedrick was believed to have jumped into the stream is more than a mile from the ocean.

The Coast Guard searched throughout the night, and by this morning, a helicopter crew from Air Station Barbers Point had conducted its fourth search, focusing on the area around Kukui Bay.