Kristine Allen, Bellingham, Washington state woman killed in Maui shark attack was following dreams according to FB post, days ahead of fateful attack.
‘I have wanted to learn to surf for years.’ The woman who disappeared while snorkeling with her husband in Hawaii earlier this month, in what officials believe was the result of a shark attack, had eerily days before her demise, posted on social media about ‘following” her dreams’.
Kristine Allen, a massage therapist and life coach from Bellingham, Washington, vanished on Dec. 8 in Maui as a large shark was seen in the waters, her husband, Blake Allen, told The Spokesman-Review.
In her final Facebook post, December 2, Allen, 60, wrote about how she was ‘following dreams’ during their trip by learning how to surf.
‘I have wanted to learn to surf for years,’ she wrote, noting that the experience allowed her to understand the surfing metaphors she’d often used in a ‘deeper’ way. ‘Our dreams give us the motivation to keep getting back up to catch the next one even if we got tumbled.’
Adding, ‘Thank you Kainalu from Maui Surf and SUP! You are the best! We loved our lesson and the joy of riding [the waves].’
Aggressive shark feeding
Kristine’s colleagues honored her on social media, calling her a ‘bright light’ and a ‘true friend to so many.’
‘Kristine lived with a joy and determination to squeeze absolutely every happiness she could from each moment!’ reads a post from Infinite We, a health services company she founded. ‘She created a safe space for others to be themselves and to build a life they love, it was her passion and her purpose.’
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband Blake and their family as they grieve,’ they added.
On Dec. 8, officials responded to reports of a shark attack at Keawakepu Beach, according to Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).
‘Officers interviewed the missing woman’s husband who said he encountered an ‘aggressive’ shark shortly after entering the water to snorkel about 50-yards off-shore,’ the department said in a statement.
The man told authorities he kept looking for his wife while the shark circled him and after it left his vicinity, authorities said.
By the time it returned, the man told investigators, ‘he could see something red around the shark’s gills,’ according to the DLNR. At the same time, ‘he said people on the beach began yelling at him to get out of the water because a shark was feeding in the area.’
Missing woman’s body unrecovered
Officials noted that the husband’s account was corroborated by an eyewitness on the beach.
A report from the investigating officer of the department’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) found that based on the evidence, the ‘tragic accident’ was classified as “shark attack-fatal.”
Meanwhile, the Maui Police Department‘s report classified her disappearance as a ‘miscellaneous accident-fatal.’
Allen’s body has not been recovered, although a snorkel set and part of a bathing suit were found, according to Hawaii News Now.
A search was called off on the afternoon of Dec. 9, after officials saw a large shark in the area.
