UPDATE: Victim Identified as 79-year-old Throw-Net Fisherman

***Updated 1:54 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3.***

Police have identified a man whose body was recovered Monday from waters off North Kohala coastline as 79-year-old Alfredo Orita of Kapa`au.

A 71-year-old female companion told police she was with Orita as he was using a throw net near the Halaula Lighthouse but lost sight of him for a few minutes.

When she next saw him, he was floating face-down in the ocean.

Orita’s body was recovered by a fire department helicopter approximately 200 yards offshore.

An autopsy will be done to determine the exact cause of death.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Officer Dale Ku at 889-6540.

Posted at 5:42 p.m. Monday, Dec. 2:

Police are investigating the death of a man found floating off the coast of North Kohala late this morning.

Responding to an 11:20 a.m. call, fire department personnel found the man floating lifeless and face down in waters near Kauhola Point.

Paramedics accessed the area via the unpaved Old Kohala Mill Road, also known as the Old Halaula Lighthouse Road, located about two miles east of Kapa`au.

The body was recovered using a department helicopter and taken to Kamehameha Park in Kapa`au where an ambulance was waiting to transport it to Kohala Hospital.

No other information was available late this afternoon.