HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
NORTH KOHALA POLICE
SERGEANT DELPHINE W. SOARES, JR.
PHONE: 889-6540
DECEMBER 12, 2000
REPORT NO. G-51015
MEDIA RELEASE
On December 12, 2000, at about 11:00 a.m. a 48-year-old male visitor from Acton, Massachusetts, appeared to have drowned while swimming at the Pololu Valley.
Responding to a 1116 a.m. call, the Kohala police determined that Professor Sukant Tripathy, a Director at the Center for Advanced Materials, and the Director for Institute for Molecular Assemblies, at the Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Lowell, was swimming with other visitors at the Valley bay. Unaware he was in trouble, they discovered his body floating faced down about 75 yards from shore. It appeared he was caught in a strong rip current.
His unconscious body was recovered by his companions and then airlifted by the Fire Department Helicopter to the North Kohala Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 12:30 p.m.
The Kohala Police are continuing an investigation into the drowning and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
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