Volunteer team honored for finding body of missing Kapaʻa man after police halt 2-day search effort

On Aug. 10, the day after the Kauaʻi Police Department suspended its effort to find missing 25-year-old Dylan Wagner following a two-day search, a team of volunteers made up of friends and family of Wagner came together to continue looking.

Approximately 12 volunteers held a conference call that day to discuss areas covered by the official search and come up with a plan, according to Daren Jenner, a volunteer who was involved as a drone pilot.

On Aug. 11 at 7 a.m., the volunteers began their search. A little more than an hour later, three of the volunteers discovered Wagnerʻs body roughly 320 feet from the parking lot where his car had been found in the Līhu‘e – Kōloa Forest Reserve in Wailua.

On Wednesday, the Kauaʻi County Council recognized those three volunteers — Timothy O’Rourke, Klayton Kubo and Eben Manini — with certificates at its committee meeting attended by members of Wagnerʻs family.

“There were many, many people involved in the search for Mr. Dylan Wagner. But these three were responsible for actually locating Dylan,” Rapozo said. 

“And I just wanted to, on behalf of the County of Kaua’i really, and all of us, just recognize you folks.” 

Before accepting the certificates, Manini, Kubo and O’Rourke each made brief statements, emphasizing the larger collaborative effort by volunteers and the need for better county rescue operations.

“This kid was like my son’s age,” Manini said, through tears. “We gotta work as a community, work as a team, and figure out the glitches.”

Although an investigation is still ongoing, Wagner is reported to have died by suicide.

“What we can share is that Wagner’s death was self-inflicted and foul play is not suspected,” said KPD Public Information Officer Tiana Victorino in a recent email response.

In an interview, Jenner, a retired firefighter and paramedic, said it is important that emergency responders not give up on searches early, even when information arises that suggests the individual has ended their own life.

“The only thing thatʻs tougher is when nobody goes and the body is never found,” he said, “So as grim as this may seem, it’s much better than it could have been had nobody looked for him.

He added, while getting emotional: “My goodness. The family. The closure.”

Wagner was reported as last seen on Aug. 6, the day before his vehicle was found parked unattended on Kuamo’o Road near Keahua Arboretum, in the area commonly referred to as Loop Road.

The Kauaʻi Police Department led the official search with the assistance of Kaua’i Search and Rescue, the Kaua‘i Fire Department and the state Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement. Their efforts began on Aug. 8 and were suspended on the evening of Aug. 9.

 “Despite extensive efforts by KPD, Kaua‘i Search and Rescue, and the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, Wagner has not yet been found,” said a KPD Facebook post.

Although Victorino confirmed in an email response last week that a group of volunteers had located Wagner, she did not provide a reason for police calling off the search.

“Police and assisting agencies searched for 48 hours without uncovering any leads. The search was suspended pending further information,” she replied.

When asked about what information was pending and for clarification as to why the search was called off, Victorino could not provide an answer. “At this time, KPD does not have any information to provide,” she wrote.

Jenner said the police and assisting organizations began the search too late, gave up too quickly, and failed to effectively search the area. And that in a case such as this, when a personʻs car has been located, the search should have first focused on the vehicle’s surrounding area.

“The problem is they never did that,” Jenner said. “They just took off straight up the trails, assuming he had gone far.”

Instead, Jenner said the volunteer team reviewed the locations the police searched and decided to focus on the immediate area of the Keahua Arboretum.

“You’ve got a situation where the police waited too long to activate the team, and when they finally activated the team, by the time they got on the ground, they never searched the immediate area and immediately ran off to points far away,” Jenner said.

Jenner hopes the situation will initiate a change in the way missing person searches are handled.

“If a four-person team can go in that just assembles the day before and finds the person in an hour … The proof is in the pudding,” he said.

There was no in depth discussion of the handling of the search during the Wednesday committee meeting of the County Council.

However, Chair Mel Rapozo said he had received multiple emails about the incident and planned to have it discussed as a scheduled agenda item at a council meeting in two weeks.

During their statements Wednesday, Manini, Kubo, and O’Rourke hoped the volunteer team would be included in the upcoming meeting to help strengthen search operations on Kauaʻi.

 “So we could share a little manaʻo (opinions) of how we could improve,” Kubo said. “Maybe we could touch it up a little and improve it.”