Missing visitor’s dive gear found on bottom of ocean

The renewed search for a diver missing off the Waialae-Kahala coast was suspended Wednesday, but not before clues emerged in the disappearance of visitor Matthew Curley of New York City.

Capt. Terry Seelig, a spokesman for the Honolulu Fire Department, said Wednesday the case now rests with Honolulu police or the Coast Guard for possible further investigation.

Among the clues are a partially shredded wetsuit, dive mask, air tank and regulator, Seelig said.

Curley disappeared Aug. 28 during a group scuba dive with Island Divers a half-mile from shore. The search, conducted in high surf from a south swell, was suspended after four days.

Personnel from Island Divers returned to the dive site, known as Baby Barge, on Tuesday and found a partially shredded wetsuit, a dive mask, a scuba tank and buoyancy control vest that apparently had been rented to Curley, Seelig said.

The company turned the items over to police, he said.

At the request of police, firefighters returned to the area Wednesday and combed a large area of water, finding an air-flow regulator on the sea floor 50 to 100 feet north-northwest of Baby Barge, Seelig said.

But they halted their search about 4 p.m. after they failed to find any new clues to the whereabouts of the 28-year-old visitor.

Fire personnel also searched the area with a helicopter and along the shoreline without success.

"They found no evidence of Mr. Curley or his remains," Seelig said.

The search won’t resume unless new leads are found, he said.

But the discoveries might show how much air Curley had left in his tank when it came off and possibly what caused the tears in his suit, Seelig said.