Daylenn Pua’s family remained hopeful as Monday approached, marking the fourth day since Pua left Waianae to hike Haiku Stairs alone in a T-shirt, shorts and slippers.
"I’m just praying that they find him," said his 66-year-old grandmother, Martha Bear of Waianae. "Regardless if he’s hurt, just find him. My mind is just wondering."
Pua is a senior at Ke Kula o Ehunuikaimalino, a Hawaiian immersion school in Kealakekua on Hawaii island, and came to Oahu on Feb. 21 to visit his grandmother.
His sister Dijzhonett Phipps said through social media that he loves to play volleyball and paddle and has six siblings.
His second cousin Zblaze Gouveia said by phone from Kona that Pua grew up outdoors and at the beach, and she remains confident he can survive the ordeal.
"I believe in him," she said. "I just can’t stop thinking about him."
She said Pua, 18, is an adventurous person and a skilled hula dancer and singer.
"He always lights up the day," she said.
Pua left his grandmother’s home in Waianae at about 6 a.m. Thursday to catch a bus to go hiking at a place he didn’t disclose, his grandmother said.
She reported him missing to police Friday afternoon because he didn’t return the previous night. She said authorities traced his cellphone to the Windward Oahu site, which was how she learned Pua went to hike the stairs, also known as the Stairway to Heaven.
Bear said she spoke with Pua on Wednesday about Haiku Stairs, and she told him the trial is closed.
"You cannot climb that mountain," she said she told him. "If you go up there, you can get locked up."
Haiku Stairs has been closed for nearly 30 years.
On Friday, Pua posted pictures on social media indicating he was on the stairs, said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Kendall Ching.
Firefighters launched a search for Pua on Saturday morning until bad weather ended the operation at about 3 p.m., Ching said.
Firefighters resumed searching Sunday morning, walking parts of the stairs and conducting a search by helicopter. Ching said firefighters in a helicopter scanned the windward side of the Koolau Range and part of the Moanalua Valley Trail, which descends from the stairs toward Salt Lake.
No sign of Pua was found.
Darkness ended the search Sunday at about 5 p.m. Firefighters planned to reassess the weather early Monday to decide whether to continue searching a third day.
Ching said the department’s standard procedure is to search three days for a missing hiker unless new information is found.
Pua’s family said he was on Kauai for a hula convention and stopped on Oahu on his way back home Feb. 21 to visit his grandmother, whom he hadn’t seen since he was 3. He was supposed to leave Saturday and return to school Monday.
Instead, Pua’s father and older brother flew from Hawaii island over the weekend to help in the search.
Addison Bear, Pua’s uncle, said he and Pua hiked the pillbox trail in Maili the weekend Pua arrived on Oahu.
He said his nephew is in good shape and finished the hike in slippers. He said Pua likely used the same slippers to hike the stairs because his shoes are still at the house.
Pua said he enjoyed hiking and asked about the Stairway to Heaven, but Bear told him a landslide recently damaged the stairs, which remained off-limits.
He suggested Pua hike Diamond Head or Makapuu instead.
"I was surprised he found it," Bear said.
He said he was concerned Pua might be suffering from hypothermia or had injured himself in a fall.
"We’re just worried," he said. "We’re not thinking the worst, and hoping everything comes out all right."
