Recent Events

Recent Events was Originally Posted on July 10, 2012 by lavarock

After days of searching, a teens body has not been recovered. While enjoying a few weeks in Hawaii, 6 teens on a guided tour were swept into the ocean by a rogue wave. He have had recent high surf here.

The relatively calm area around Kealakekus Bay was the scene of the drowning. All but Tyler Madoff, aged 15, were pulled out of the water (one teen wassent to Oahu for care), but rescue crews were not able to find Tyler.

Locals residents also helped in the search.

The mainland tour company appears not to have a permit to take people to the tide pools and I’m not sure how involved they were in the decisipon. It appears a local company was contracted to provide services here.

Kealakekua Bay is a few miles from my house and by cutting down a few trees, I would be able to see the Captain Cook Monument from here. That makes it even more upsetting that this happened almost in my own back yard.

As I mention in the Clark Howard travel forums, Hawaii is a beautiful place to visit, but differs vastly from other locations because of some hidden dangers. Being close to the equator, the sun is more intense. We have rogue waves and earthquakes and tsunamis. Although generally these do not cause many problems, we also have loose dirt banks with no guardrails. A teen visiting Maui last month, ran to an overlook and slid down the embankment to his death. It is a far cry from being Disneyland, where perceived dangers are designed with safety in mind.

The last I heard, the rescue teams had to give up and Tylers body may not be found. It is being listed as a fatality.

My heart goes out to his family, friends and schoolmates back in New York.