Coast Guard, Hawaii island officials search for missing opihi picker
A search is under way for a 30-year-old man who went missing Thursday while picking opihi near Cape Kumakahi on the Big Island.
The missing man, identified as Peter Mahoe, was last seen climbing down a cliff face between noon and 2 p.m. Mahoe’s all-terrain vehicle was found 200 feet from the site. Mahoe and his family had been camping close by.
The U.S. Coast Guard deployed an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew and a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Barbers Point and the crew of the 110-foot Coast Guard Cutter Kiska, homeported in Hilo, to aid in the search. Personnel from the Hawaii Police Department and Hawaii Fire Department are also involved.
Mahoe is described as 5-feet-6 with shoulder-length brown hair and wearing blue boardshorts.
Anyone with information about Mahoe’s whereabouts is asked to contact Coast Guard Sector Honolulu at 842-2600.