The body of a missing hiker who reportedly set off to explore waterfalls was found Saturday in East Maui, police said Sunday afternoon.
Craig Michael Pitt, a 35-year-old visitor from Florida, was found at the base of a waterfall in the Bamboo Forest area.
Police launched an investigation Friday after Pitt was reported missing and his silver Toyota Corolla was found parked on the Hana Highway shoulder near Mile Post 7.8. On Saturday, police and fire personnel searched the Bamboo Forest area, using the Fire Department’s Air One helicopter and the Police Department’s search dog, Jack. They discovered the body of a Caucasian male at the base of a waterfall in the area.
The man’s remains were later positively identified through fingerprints as those of Pitt. The circumstances and cause of his death are still under investigation, though foul play is not suspected, police said.
Pitt was last seen around noon Wednesday at Banana Bungalows in Paia, according to police. It was believed that he planned to hike on one of the trails along Hana Highway. A post on the Find Craig Pitt Facebook page said that Pitt was “an avid climber and hiker” and that “he said he would be traveling along the coast to see the waterfalls that dump out into the ocean.” The page also said that Pitt “generally hikes alone.”
Khiara Henry
Police said Sunday afternoon that the family had been notified, and that police were providing them with assistance.
The case has been reclassified as an “unattended death” and remains an active investigation, police said.
Meanwhile, volunteers suspended a search Sunday for another missing person, 23-year-old Khiara Henry.
“At this point we’ve exhausted our reasonable search area, and we’ve done everything that we can do, unless PD gives us something else to work with,” said Chris Berquist of the Search Technology Advisory Team Foundation.
Henry was reported missing July 26 after her rental vehicle was found the day before at Waianapanapa State Park. She had rented the car on July 21, the same day she checked out of a Kihei resort, according to information and footage released by police.
A photo from Craig M. Pitt’s Facebook profile shows him exploring Maui’s coastline last month. Pitt’s body was found at the base of a waterfall in East Maui on Saturday. Craig Pitt photo via Facebook
According to the Find Khiara Henry Facebook page, Henry lives in San Diego but has a Nevada ID. She stayed at the Aston Maui Hill from July 18 to 21 before attempting to book a condo at Sugar Beach Resort in Kihei for July 22 to 29. However, the resort later emailed her stating that the condo was unavailable, according to the Facebook page. Henry also booked a flight home for July 29.
The STAT Foundation, which was formed in the wake of the Amanda Eller search, has been assisting in search efforts for Henry. Close to 20 volunteers showed up Sunday to help with the search, Berquist said. Four groups set out from Waianapanapa, with one group heading out toward Mile Post 28 and the other three groups staggered out in the Kaupo direction, searching the roadside and “any easy walk-off trails.”
“Trying to cross one more thing off the list, just to make sure she wasn’t subject to a hit and run,” Berquist said.
Volunteers searched Thursday, Friday and Sunday, Berquist said. They suspended efforts briefly after the Hana Community Association asked volunteers to let them search areas containing sacred sites.
The STAT Foundation provided “a coastline search with a helicopter, a dive search of the known caves, foot searches of the park and its trails, as well as spreading Missing Persons flyers around the island,” Berquist wrote on the Find Khiara Henry page on Saturday. Maui Search and Rescue also brought its K-9 team and searched vent areas of the park.
“We went as far as the continuous trail goes (from Waianapanapa) and just a little farther,” Berquist said Sunday in a phone interview. “But after you get past the airport you start to hit private property and fences that extend to cliff’s edge, so no more trails.”
Berquist said said that people may be expecting “the same presence as Amanda’s search or the same wishbone that we pulled there,” but that the search for Henry has been different “for several reasons.”
“A big part of it is just the geography of the area, and because this is a much smaller park and such a defined hiking area, it’s not as wide open as Amanda’s area was,” he said. “Makawao State Forest is so close and so accessible for folks. It was easy for people who only had an hour or two of their day. (Hana is) four hours of round-trip driving, plus search time. It’s a little bit harder for folks to come out.”
Berquist also said they didn’t do a saturation map of GPS-tracked areas where volunteers searched because there were fewer people and it was easier to keep track of where they went. He said they also didn’t want to push a big walking presence because of the culturally sensitive areas around the park.
Acting police spokesman Sgt. John Sang said Sunday that “we have no further developments” on Henry’s case.
Henry is described as 5 feet, 3 inches tall, 120 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts should call police at 270-6516 or 244-6400.
* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.
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