Missing Hawaii hiker found dead after Noah ‘Kekai’ Mina’s body found below a steep ridge after hiking along Maui’s Kapilau Ridge Trail.
The body of missing Hawaii hiker who had been missing for eight days was on Wednesday found by a crew of rescuers.
Noah ‘Kekai’ Mina was found dead after the man’s body was recovered about 300ft below a steep ridge (only accessible by helicopter) in the summit region of Mauna Kahalawai, in West Maui Mountains, Wednesday morning.
Mina, 35, was reported missing on Monday May 20. His family said he went hiking along the Kapilau Ridge Trail, also known as Saint Anthony Cross, in the Iao Valley to ‘seek clarity’ in nature around 8am.
But after failing to emerge from the forest after a couple of days the alarm was raised.
Another hiker missing in Hawaii. Noah Kekai Mina went for a hike on the Kapilau Ridge Trail on Maui on May 20th and has not been seen since. A GoFundMe has been set up to help fund the search: https://t.co/K8bo8DWCP3 pic.twitter.com/zZqGHapYSK
— Morning Express with Robin Meade (@MorningExp) May 28, 2019
Noah ‘Kekai’ Mina: Family set up GoFundme page to fund private search for missing hiker.
Searchers who helped find hiker Amanda Eller, a yoga instructor who went missing in the Maui wilderness for 17 days until she was found on Sunday, aided in the search for Mina. A ground and air search was launched earlier this week.
The police search for Mina ended on Saturday, but the family continued the search party on their own, paying for private infrared helicopters to scope out the jungle for a sign of him.
On Friday his family launched a GoFundMe page entitled ‘Bring Kekai Home’, seeking to raise $100,000 to continue the search for the missing hiker.
‘It has been over the 72 hours and the research now is between our hands,’ the GoFundMe page said. ‘There has been new tracks found by the ridges and we are convinced that our loving Kane is out there needing the assistance to come back.’
‘Helicopters going out for the search at this point we are looking at $1200/hour. We need more funds for the search in order to have the mission going,’ another update in the page said.
The fundraiser by Thursday morning had raised $61,091 of its $100,000 goal.
Noah ‘Kekai’ Mina missing hiker: In search of clarity within nature.
Vincent Mina described his son as a gentle, loving humble soul with a strong Hawaiian heart and will.
‘We ask that you reserve any judgments and only offer the love and respect he deserves on taking a path less traveled many of those out there would never consider taking,’ the father posted as Mina’s family continued to hold out for hope prior to Wednesday’s grim discovery.
‘We ask that you cover him with a blanket of Angels on this night and bring him back to us safely.’
Mina was described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, 180 pounds, with shaved black hair and brown eyes.
Facebook Bring Kekai Home followers were updated on the search on Sunday, with the page explaining that the terrain in the area was too dangerous and wouldn’t include volunteers.
Noted a recent statement from the missing hiker’s immediate family on the Facebook page, ‘We are so very sorry that Kekai has passed from this realm, he meant the world to us as a son, brother and friend.’
Officials are scheduled to conduct an autopsy to determine how exactly Mina died.
