Overturned boat washes ashore as bodies of missing fishermen identified
U.S. COAST GUARD
This July 4 photo shows a fishing vessel that was spotted overturned approximately 25 miles off Oahu’s North Shore.
The Kauai Police Department identified the two bodies recovered off Kauai last week as fishermen Derek Keone Tomas, 30, of Pearl City and Jenson Toshio Wah Bunn Loo, 30, of Mililani.
The body of Clint Oshima, 36, of Honolulu was not recovered.
Meanwhile, their overturned boat washed up on a remote beach on Kauai’s north shore, the Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a news release.
The three friends left Haleiwa Boat Harbor on the morning of July 3 on a 20-foot vessel Iwa. They were reported missing that night after they didn’t return as scheduled.
On July 4, the Coast Guard spotted the overturned Iwa about 25 miles from Haleiwa harbor. The Coast Guard began searching for the three fishermen, scouring more than 27,600 square miles before they suspending the search Thursday night.
On Friday, the Kauai Fire Department recovered a body located by a fisherman, two to three miles off Anahola. The Fire Department helicopter also had spotted an overturned vessel in the area, and a second body was recovered off Wailua.
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The Kauai Fire Department helicopter searched again Saturday for Oshima. The search was suspended that evening with no signs of him.
The Medical Examiner’s Office determined that accidental drowning was the cause of death.
The Kauai Fire Department spotted the boat near Rock Quarry beach in Kilauea on Friday and the DNLR said the boat’s registration confirmed it was the Iwa.
The boat had been sold to the men, but the paperwork had not been filed.
The last registered owner of the boat told the DNLR’s boating division that he would go out this weekend with friends and family and tow it to the Hanalei River, where it can be put on a trailer.
9 responses to “Overturned boat washes ashore as bodies of missing fishermen identified”
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I went to high school with Derek. RIP.
May God be with their souls. I am so sorry this happened. Ocean was very rough that day…
This incident has made me so sad even though I don’t know any of the fishermen. I hope they find Clint soon. The family needs closure. My prayers are with all their families and friends.
My deepest ALOHA to their ohana.
Condolences to the families of the deceased. Sad when 3 young lose their lives so tragically.
Very sad since they were so young and just out to have some fun. Wonder if they were hit by a rogue wave as how can all three be apparently tossed out and then the boat overturned. The ocean is so unpredictable and unforgiving.
No rouge wave. The sea was pretty rough that day for a vessel of that size. A tragic situation that will hopefully serve as a learning experience to others.
Condolences to the families. Hope they find comfort in knowing that the men died doing something that they enjoyed doing.
Three friends, three men who loved the ocean, all three are together sitting with the lord. My deepest Condolence to their family.
Boat too small for the distance they (reportedly) went offshore. No media reports have mentioned anything about PFD’s, or an EPIRBS, or anything else about safety equipment on boat…or lack of it(?) If they were tossed into water and conscious, they could have initiated an EPIRB signal and floated with boat until rescue. Highly unlikely that all 3 men would all suddenly die from the boat being overturned. If they had a VHF radio, they could have transmitted mayday call. Cell phone in waterproof bag? It seems odd that 3 guys who reportedly did a lot of fishing offshore together (on Facebook page) went out with so little regard to their own safety. One would hope other fishermen would learn from this incident.