75-year-old Utah woman apparently drowns in South Kona

A 75-year-old female swimmer died of an apparent drowning on Monday at the Honaunau Boat Ramp in South Kona.

The woman, identified her as Carol Mugleston of Layton, Utah, was in distress when she was brought out of the ocean around noon by bystanders.

She was given CPR until Hawaiʻi Fire Department personnel arrived. The rescue workers continued life-saving measures but the woman was unable to be resuscitated.

Paramedics transported Mugleston to the Kona Community Hospital, where a doctor pronounced her dead at 1:13 p.m.

Police have initiated a coroner’s inquest investigation and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. Hawai’i police ask anyone with information on this incident to call the police department’s non-emergency line at 808-935-3311.