Daughter claims
air search ended
too soon

A Molokai man who wandered
off was found dead on Friday

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By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

WAILUKU >> A Molokai woman said her father, Wallace J. Silva, might be alive today if authorities had searched more intensively with a helicopter.

"We should have gotten more air time earlier," Heli Silva said. "He could have been found alive. It's really tragic. With the chopper he could have been found sooner, not a week and a half later."

Maui Fire Chief Clayton Ishikawa said he plans to review search procedures in light of the family's criticism. But he said he thought fire rescue officials did a good job and everything possible to find Silva.

Heli Silva said while a land search was conducted for several days, fire rescue officials searched by helicopter for only a couple of hours for two days before suspending the air search July 24.

Silva's body was found in a mangrove swamp about three-quarters of a mile from his beach home at Kalamaula, less than an hour after the helicopter search was renewed Friday.

An autopsy yesterday determined Silva died of exposure and had been dead for a week or less.

Silva, 72, a former houseman at Pioneer Inn on Maui, had dementia, after suffering a number of strokes several years ago.

Although he was able to walk far, he was unable to carry on a conversation and sometimes heard voices in his head that told him to go places, according to the family.

On the evening of July 21, Silva was missing, and authorities were informed of that fact a little after 11:30 a.m. July 23.

Fire officials looked for him for five days before formally suspending the land search.

Heli Silva said she felt her father also might have been found if the county had used dogs in its search.

Silva said the family called Council Chairman Patrick Kawano of Molokai to request his assistance, and fire rescue officials had a helicopter again in the air Friday morning.

"We had to fight to get the helicopter to come back," she said.

Ishikawa said that on July 27, fire rescue workers walked "in the exact area" where the body was found and saw nothing at that time.

Ishikawa said a number of the firefighters continued searching on a voluntary basis after their regular shifts.

He said the helicopter flew for 2 1/2 hours on the first day of the search on July 23 and a couple of hours on the second day.

"For that area that's a long time in the air," he said. "With a helicopter you can cover a lot of ground.

"They covered as much as they could. The firefighters on Molokai did a good job. It's an unfortunate situation."

Ishikawa said Maui police have dogs that are able to sniff out drugs but none that are trained to search for missing persons.

In addition to the air search, more than 100 people joined the family Friday in looking for Silva.

Heli Silva said the family wanted to thank the public for their support.