Search Underway For Missing Big Island Fisherman

The US Coast Guard reported Saturday that it is conducting a search and rescue mission in concert with the Hawai‘i Fire Department to locate a missing Big Island fisherman.

Mark Lowery, 47, went missing after he left a campsite Friday evening to fish in waters approximately 2.5 miles NE of Punalu‘u Beach.

Honolulu watchstander, Mark Zienkiewicz, said Lowery was last seen at 10 p.m. Friday wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, tan shorts, and a headlamp.

“We request waterway users transiting the area to keep a sharp lookout for signs of distress,” Zienkiewicz said in a release published by the Coast Guard on Saturday. “Anyone with information that might aid us, please call 808-842-2600.”

Lowery was reportedly camping with seven friends and left his campsite to fish after the rest of the party turned in for the evening. His absence was noted early Saturday morning, after which a report was filed.

A backpack belonging to Lowery, along with fishing equipment, could not be located at the campsite.

Lowery is the second Big Island fisherman to go missing within the last week. Rescue crews located the body of a 52-year-old Captain Cook man submerged under 8 to 10 feet of water off the South Kona shoreline by Pu‘uhonua Road on June 10, after he’d gone missing the night before.

HFD deployed its Air 1 helicopter in the search effort and also has ground crews combing relevant portions of the coastline. The Coast Guard said an Air Station Barbers Point MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and HC-130 Hercules aircrews are conducting a search of the surrounding waters, adding that it will also deploy the Coast Guard Cutter William Hart to aid in the search effort.

The Coast Guard reported that the weather during Saturday’s search consisted of winds up to 17 mph and seas as high as seven feet.