Hawaiʻi Police Department
Kona Patrol
Captain Richard Sherlock
Phone: 326-4646, Ext. 299
Report No. C12034592
Media Release
Hawaiʻi Island police are investigating a likely drowning in Kona over the weekend.
Shortly before 3:30 p.m. Saturday (December 29), Kona Patrol Officers responded to the end of OTEC road in Kailua-Kona to a report of a body floating in the ocean.
A 40-year-old Kailua-Kona man, who had been swimming in an area of high surf, was floating face down in the water and appeared unresponsive. Fire Department personnel pulled him from the water, attempted life-saving measures, and took him to Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The man’s name is being withheld pending notification of his family.
Police have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.