Ocean searches to resume on Kauai

Rescue crews will again try to find two who were lost in big waves

The Coast Guard and the Kauai Fire Department were to resume the search today for two boys missing in high surf in separate incidents on Kauai's east shoreline.

The 9-year-old Colorado boy in Anahola Bay and a 17-year-old Kapaa High School student swimming at Nukolii Beach Park were apparently swept out to sea by strong currents.

The 32-year-old mother of the Colorado boy was in critical condition last night after swimming out to try and rescue him.

The boy had been swimming with his brother, 8, when they both ran in to trouble with the current at around noon, officials said.

The boys' mother jumped in to the ocean and was able to grab her younger son but was unable to reach her other son. A bystander swam out and helped bring her and the 8-year-old boy back to shore.

Kauai officials said the mother went back in to the water to look for her other son. The same bystander swam out to bring her back in. Lifeguards from Kealia Beach performed CPR on the woman before taking her to the Wilcox Memorial Hospital where she was listed in critical condition last night.

The second incident involved a 17-year-old Kapaa High School student who had been swimming with another teenager about 100 to 150 yards offshore of Nukolii Beach Park at around 12:45 p.m. Both boys called for help and were assisted by a bystander who swam in and grabbed one of the teens, but lost the other when waves broke on top of them, according to county officials.

Both the bystander and the victim swam to shore and were taken to Wilcox where they were treated and released. U.S. Coast Guard officials tried searching the area for the missing teen with their Rigid Hull Inflatable -- a Zodiac-like craft -- but said the conditions were too rough and they had to turn back.

"The swells and waves were too big," said Coast Guard Spokeswoman Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson.

The conditions were much the same in Anahola Bay where the first boy went missing, Johnson said. She said Coast Guard search teams dropped a data buoy at the boy's last known location and that ocean conditions ended up bringing the buoy to shore.

A Coast Guard helicopter searched the shoreline waters from above while the Kauai Fire Department and lifeguards searched from below on foot and by paddleboards. Search efforts at the other location near Nukolii took place one mile north of Hanamaulu Bay and involved jet skis and divers.

Johnson said conditions for Kauai's east side involved 8-foot swells and winds of about 20 miles per hour.