COURTESY OF YARONE SHLOMO
Daniel Levey, shown along a ridge trail overlooking Manoa Valley last Saturday, was found dead after a four-day search.
‘He died doing
what he enjoyed’Daniel Levey, 19,
an avid hiker, is found dead
after falling from
a Nuuanu trail
Rescue crews have found the body of missing hiker Daniel Levey, who had been missing since Monday and apparently fell 150 feet from a Nuuanu trail into a shallow pool of water on a ledge near a waterfall.
The crew of the Honolulu Fire Department's Air One helicopter spotted and recovered the body about 11 a.m. yesterday during a search of the Nuuanu area.
Levey's body was on a ledge 200 feet above the ground, according to officials. He apparently fell from the top of the 350-foot waterfall.
Levey, 19, probably fell because "there was no way to climb down the waterfall," said fire Capt. Kenison Tejada. The injuries on the body also appear to have been caused by a fall, according to police, who said they do not suspect foul play.
Rescue crews suspected the body was Levey's because it had a white T-shirt and a black backpack, which Levey was wearing.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
His father, Norman Levey, was comforted by friends yesterday as his son's body was recovered from a hiking trail.
Levey's body was found about four miles from where he started hiking in Maunalani Heights, according to fire officials.
Levey had been missing since Monday night after he went hiking alone in the Koolau Mountains.
He was last heard from about 6 p.m. Monday, when he called his family to tell them he was hiking down the Lanipo Trail mauka of Maunalani Heights.
"It got dark a half an hour too early," said Levey's mother, Dr. Joyce Levey. "Otherwise he would have been home safely."
Rescue efforts by members of the Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu Fire Department, the Department of Land & Natural Resources and the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club went on for four days.
In a tearful news conference, Joyce Levey, accompanied by her husband, Norman, thanked "everyone who came out in vast numbers" to help in the search.
"He died doing what he enjoyed. The main thing is that Daniel did not suffer," she said.
Levey's family said he may have died shortly after he called home Monday night. They said he probably died almost instantly after he fell.
Levey, an avid hiker, often trekked the trails of Oahu alone, according to his close, longtime friend Yarone Shlomo.
"It was something he enjoyed," Shlomo said. "He liked to do stuff by himself. It showed his stamina."
Levey was "able-bodied and strong-minded," said Shlomo. "Daniel used to say that the longer you hike, the more rewarding the experience."
He could have done anything, Shlomo added. "He has the highest GPA (grade-point average) of anyone I know. And when he has a passion, he goes for it."
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Norman and Joyce Levey talked to journalists yesterday about their son Daniel, who died on a Nuuanu hiking trail.
In 1999, Levey stayed awake with a friend for 100 hours to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House.
On July 22, 1993, Levey was in a serious car collision that left him hospitalized for two weeks, but he recovered.
Shlomo and Levey met 11 years ago through the Chabad House of Hawaii.
After Shlomo heard that Levey was dead, "I felt a small sense of relief it was over, but there was more an overbearing sense of loss."
Kerwin Lum was among members of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club searching mountain trails for several days to help find Levey.
"I didn't know him," Lum said. "But yet, what if it was my brother or my loved one who was lost?"
Lum advises hikers to "research conditions of the trail you're gonna go on, and carry flagging tape to mark your path," he said. "It's always better to come overprepared than underprepared."
"I don't recommend hiking alone unless you know the area and are well prepared. You really should hike with someone else," he said.
Levey was a 2001 Punahou graduate who was studying biology at the University of Oregon.
"Daniel would probably want people to enjoy the things he enjoyed in life," Shlomo said. "He'll be missed sorely."
