The body of a 61-year-old male hiker found this morning by a volunteer search party in Pearl City is believed to be that of Nate Yuen, a well-known naturalist and photographer, who has captured photos of native plants and animals from the mountains to the sea.

The Honolulu Fire Department received a call at 6:31 a.m. for a missing person near the Waimano Ridge Trail.

Five HFD units with 16 personnel were dispatched, with the first unit arriving at 6:44 a.m.

HFD and police searched for the missing man.

A volunteer search party notified the location of the missing person and HFD inserted rescue personnel to the location and airlifted the body to the nearby landing zone near Pearl City High School, HFD said in a news release.

Medical care was transferred to Emergency Medical Services at 11:07 a.m.

EMS said in an online report that its personnel assisted with the death pronouncement at 11:20 a.m. and that the body was found about 100 feet down a cliff.

Yuen had been missing since Sunday, and his car was located late Monday night at the top of Waimano Home Road near the trailhead.

Friends and family quickly organized a search party for 9 a.m. today, but that was later called off.

Tributes to Yuen are pouring in on Facebook as he had many friends in the hiking, environmental and Native Hawaiian communities.