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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Friends consoled each other Monday on the side of Pali Highway near the trail to Kapena Falls, where a 17-year-old boy died.
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The body of a 17-year-old boy on a Labor Day outing with friends was pulled from the water at Kapena Falls.
He had been with a group of nine to 10 friends who arrived at Kapena Falls, off the Pali Highway in Nuuanu, sometime after 9 a.m. Monday, a fire official said.
Battalion Chief John Bowers said the teenager told friends he was going to the restroom, and they began to worry when they were unable to locate him at about 10:30 a.m. The friends conducted a search and called the boy’s parents, who went to Kapena Falls. The Honolulu Fire Department was called at 2:15 p.m., fire officials said.
Fire rescue divers found the teen’s body at the bottom of the pond at about 3 p.m.
Officials said the visibility at the pond was murky, with rain clouds covering the inland area of Nuuanu Valley.
Witnesses said they didn’t know whether the boy slipped, fell, or jumped into the water, Bowers said.
"They said the last they saw him he was going to use the bathroom," Bowers said.
Hawaii News Now reported the teenager was a student of Moanalua High School.
The youth’s body has been turned over to the Honolulu Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death.
In 2009, a 32-year-old man died after jumping about 10 feet into the pool at Kapena Falls.