Sea search for ‘missing’
tourist costs $46,000A 911 caller neglects to let
rescuers know she reached safety
Rescue officials spent more than $46,000 to search for a San Diego woman who made a 911 distress call in the ocean off Lanikai on Sunday, got ashore safely and then waited nine hours to report she was OK.
"She called about 9 (Sunday) night from a Waikiki hotel," said Petty Officer Justin Acosta, search and rescue coordinator for U.S. Coast Guard Group Honolulu. "She said she got out after she made the 911 call."
Based on the name she gave and her cellular telephone number, Coast Guard officials determined the woman is from San Diego, Acosta said.
A city Emergency Medical Services dispatcher received the 911 call from the woman about noon, said Chris Ano, EMS district chief. "She said she was trying to make it back to shore, she was hanging off her raft and she thinks she might drown."
Ano said the woman seemed to have said she was in Mokuleia. But he said her voice was faint and that there was a lot of other noise on the transmission.
The Honolulu Fire Department sent one of its rescue units, an engine company and its Air One helicopter to Mokuleia, while the Coast Guard sent its H-65 helicopter. City lifeguards also joined in.
Acosta said he called the woman's cellular telephone but got the woman's voice mailbox. He said he could not leave a message because the mailbox was full.
When fire officials called the woman's cellular telephone about 2:30 p.m., a man answered, said Capt. Kenison Tejada, Fire Department spokesman. After the fire officials identified themselves, the call was cut off, Tejada said. When they called again, they reached her voice mail.
Fire officials called off their search about 3 p.m. after determining that the woman was probably no longer in the water, Tejada said. The woman had not returned their call as of yesterday evening.
The Coast Guard shifted its search to Lanikai after EMS officials told them the woman could have said she was off the Mokulua Islands, Acosta said. Verizon Wireless officials told the Coast Guard that the woman's call was picked up and transmitted by its Lanikai tower.
The Coast Guard helicopter returned to Barbers Point about 5 p.m. Verizon officials told the Coast Guard that another call had been made from the woman's cellular telephone through its Lanikai tower about that time. Acosta said he again called the woman's telephone and this time was able to leave a message.
A Coast Guard C-130 airplane continued the search until darkness about 7:30 p.m.
The Coast Guard said the cost of the search is about $42,000 just for the air time of the helicopter and C-130. Fire officials said the cost of its search, including personnel pay, is about $4,370.
"If someone is in trouble, please don't hesitate to call. And when you're (out of) trouble, don't hesitate to call," Tejada said.