Firefighters recovered two bodies off Kauai waters on Friday afternoon.
The bodies have not yet been identified, but officials believe they are two of the three fishermen who went missing in waters off Oahu’s North Shore over the weekend.
On Friday morning, personnel from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources notified fire officials of a life jacket that was found by a boater in waters roughly five miles off Port Allen.
The life jacket was confirmed to be from the vessel that went missing off Haleiwa on Oahu over the weekend.
Upon notifying the fire department, DLNR launched a boat to conduct a sea-based search while KFD conducted an air-based search using Air 1. The search turned up no sign of the missing fisherman throughout the day.
Then shortly before 4 p.m., a fisherman notified the Kauai Fire Department of a male body found unresponsive roughly two to three miles off Anahola.
Firefighters launched Whaler II from Waikaea Small Boat Harbor in Kapaa to recover the body. While heading back to shore after recovering the body, the crew was notified by Air 1 that an overturned vessel had been located roughly a half-mile away.
Whaler II was conducting a search of that vessel, believed to be the boat that went missing off Haleiwa, when they were then notified by Air 1 of a second male body located roughly two miles off Wailua about 5:30 p.m.
Whaler II then headed to Wailua to recover the second male body and brought both men back to Waikaea Small Boat Ramp at approximately 7 p.m.
Kauai police are working to positively identify the bodies and notify family.
Before the bodies were recovered, the U.S. Coast Guard announced it had suspended its search for the three missing fishermen.
The Coast Guard says rescuers searched more than 27,000 square miles over four days. The search extended nearly 100 miles north of Oahu and as far west as Kauai.
Rescuers found what was said to be the men’s boat overturned about 25 miles off Oahu’s North Shore on Monday.
Jensen Loo, Clint Oshima and Derek Tomas were reported missing late Sunday when they didn’t return from a fishing trip.
The Coast Guard said Thursday that it used an airplane, helicopter and two ships for the search. The Navy sent an airplane and helicopter while the Marine Corps sent a helicopter to help. Firefighters on personal watercraft and in a helicopter joined the effort.
