COURTESY PHOTO
Monica Weyant, who went windsurfing Saturday in Kaneohe Bay and failed to return, is believed to have drowned.
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Windsurfer died after hitting head
Positive ID of a body found in Kaneohe Bay has yet to be made
Star-Bulletin staff
The autopsy on the body believed to be that of missing windsurfer Monica Weyant confirmed what her husband suspected: that she fell, hit her head and drowned.
The Honolulu medical examiner said the woman whose body was pulled from Kaneohe Bay on Monday morning died of asphyxia due to drowning due to blunt force injuries to the head. The death was classified as accidental.
The medical examiner made a presumptive identification based on the description Dan Weyant provided of his wife's clothing and jewelry. It is awaiting fingerprint confirmation to make a positive identification. Until then, the medical examiner is not able to release the body for burial.
Weyant said he was advised not to try to make visual identification because the body had been in the water for nearly two days.
Monica Weyant, 36, went windsurfing in Kaneohe Bay about 9:30 a.m. Saturday, her husband said, while he and members of the Kokokahi Sailing Club did their monthly cleanup on shore. She was supposed to return by 11 a.m.
The Coast Guard, state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Honolulu Fire Department and 25 members of the sailing club searched for Weyant Saturday and Sunday. Personnel aboard HFD's Air 1 helicopter spotted a body matching her description floating near shore off Pohakea Point Monday morning. It was close to the spot where her board was found Saturday.
Dan Weyant said his wife was someone who had a lot of friends. He said she had been windsurfing for six years. Monica Weyant worked in the Information Systems Department at Hawaii Medical Service Association as a business requirements analyst.