Hawaiʻi Island police are investigating a possible drowning in South Kohala.
On the morning of Sunday, June 13, 2021, South Kohala patrol officers and members of the Hawai’i Fire Department responded to a 9-1-1- call reporting an unresponsive male snorkeler at Anaehoʻomalu Bay.
The snorkeler was part of a chartered tour. The tour crew noticed he appeared to be in distress while a few hundred feet from the Anaehoʻomalu Bay shore. The crew brought him back to the tour boat and performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation while transporting him to shore. Hawai’i Fire Department medics continued CPR and transported the victim to Queen’s North Hawai’i Community Hospital. The unresponsive man was pronounced dead at 7:52 p.m. He was identified as 52-year-old Steve Reading of Murrieta, California.
Police have initiated a coroner’s inquest investigation relative to this incident and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
