Hawaii mother, 29, drowns after slipping and falling from top of cliff in front of horrified boyfriend, who himself dove into water when first responders arrived WITHOUT water rescue equipment
A 29-year-old mother of two from Hawaii drowned after slipping and falling from the top of a cliff in front of her horrified boyfriend before being swept out to sea.
Kalaiokealaula Ashley Nicole Reyes Kanekoa was with her boyfriend, Dylan Gapp, 31, watching the waves on a cliff near Hawaiian Paradise Park around 2 a.m. Sunday when she slipped and fell into the raging current near the Puna Coast.
Her frantic boyfriend said he had to listen to her ‘suffer and scream for help’ during the agonizing wait for emergency services to arrive, which he claimed took hours. Hawaii news now reported.
He said when police and firefighters finally arrived, they weren’t equipped with the life-saving equipment they needed to save his girlfriend.
During the harrowing ordeal, he tried to throw her a flotation device, but tragically, the young woman was pulled out by the ocean’s currents.
Traumatized by the unthinkable incident, Gapp said his girlfriend survived the jump but did not survive the long wait for help, and argued that emergency workers should have done more to save her, according to the news outlet.
Kalaiokealaula Ashley Nicole Reyes Kanekoa, 29, was described by her boyfriend as a loving, devoted mother who would do anything for her children
The mother of two slipped and fell off a cliff and then drowned early Sunday morning near Hawaiian Paradise Park as her horrified boyfriend tried to save her. In this undated photo, she was pregnant at the time
Boyfriend Dylan Gapp, 31, said he had to listen to her ‘suffer and scream for help’ during the agonizing wait for emergency crews to arrive
‘I had to get her a raft. They did not have a flotation device. I got the raft out to her and I said, OK, let’s get her a rope so she doesn’t drift away, and they said, ‘Oh, we don’t have any rope,'” Gapp recounted Hawaii news now.
“To sit there and watch this girl suffer for 45 minutes to an hour suffering and screaming for help and saying eventually the boats came.”
Hawaii County police and firefighters responded within seven minutes of the 911 call.
Officials said the fire truck was not required to carry marine gear and with dangerous conditions from a large northerly swell, it was too dark and dangerous for first responders to enter the water.
Hawaii County Police Capt. Todd Pataray told the news outlet that they ‘requested the service of the fire department for a rescue boat, attempted to call for a fire department helicopter and called the Coast Guard.’
Gapp said he tried to rescue his girlfriend on his own, swimming out to where she was clinging to a raft after waiting an hour for the helicopter and lifeboat to surface, but when he returned, he said emergency personnel could no longer see her.
The devastated boyfriend spoke in detail about the painful and heartbreaking ordeal.
‘The woman sitting on that raft was screaming for help. ‘What do I do now? What do I do now?’ And I tell her they will get you and they will get you. And they never came to get her,’ Gapp recalled, Hawaii News Now reported.
The Hawaii Fire Department told Hawaii News Now that conditions were too windy to fly the helicopter, and said the rescue boat was supposed to come from Hilo about 15 miles up the coast and arrived at
According to police, firefighters and the Coast Guard searched for the missing woman through the early morning hours, and at 8 a.m., nearly six hours after the tragic fall, the young woman’s body was found approximately four miles down the coast near Honolulu Landing in Pāhoa.
She was transported to Hilo Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. 10:58 a.m., according to a police statement.
An autopsy determined her manner and cause of death to be accidental drowning. Police said foul play was not suspected, People reported.
Hawaii authorities told the news outlet that an investigation is underway and that they are awaiting toxicology reports.
The place where Reyes Kanekoa tragically fell on the Puna coast of Hawaii Island
Another picture of the cliff where the mother of two tragically lost her life early Sunday
A cliffside memorial was erected near the site of the young mother who tragically fell to her death in the early hours of Sunday morning
Gapp called his love ‘a loving, caring person’.
‘She loved her children more than anything. She had a lot of fun. Lots of joie de vivre. She was always giggling, laughing, he said.
ONE GoFundMe was set up to help raise money for Keankekoa’s funeral. As of Friday afternoon, more than $3,400 has been raised toward their $8,000 goal.
Friends and loved ones expressed their grief on social media, sharing how much Reyes Kanekoa touched their lives.
‘My sweet sweet beautiful friend, you were the first friend I ever had. Fly high with the angels, calm down my beautiful friend.’
Another friend wrote: ‘She will always remain in the hearts of all of us who loved and loved her dearly. Kala’i was a light and shared that light with all.’
‘I thank all the forces for my ability to have known her in my life. May she rest in the same light and love she gave to others.’