ONOMEA, Hawaii – After three days of searching the area of Kawainui Stream by the Old Mamalahoa Highway, the body of a missing opai picker was recovered on Wednesday.
43 year old Ernesto Combes of Puna went missing after he and three others were caught in a flash flood while fishing for prawns by 6 Ton Bridge on the Onomea scenic route.
Fire officials say they found Combes submerged in the pond approximately 500 yards down stream of the bridge. Two SCUBA divers located the Combes’ body at the bottom of the 30 foot deep pond, brought it to the surface and extricated it by Chopper 1 utilizing the Billy Pugh net.
The search was hampered because of the rushing waters in the Kawainui stream. The dive team could not begin working until the second day.
