Hawaii
Boyfriend of victim who died awaiting rescue say first responders should have done more to save her
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Loved ones of the Hawaii Island woman who died after being swept out into the ocean Saturday say they want changes to the county’s emergency responses.
The victim’s boyfriend says they were watching the waves together around 2 a.m. Saturday, on a cliff near Hawaii resident Paradise Park, when she fell into the water.
He says 29-year-old Kalai Reyes survived the plunge but did not survive the hours-long wait for help.
“She was a loving, caring person,” said her boyfriend, Dylan Gapp. “She loved her kids more than anything. She had a lot of fun. Lot of joy in life. She was always giggling, laughing,”
His grief is mixed with anger because he says first responders should have done more to save her.
“I had to get a raft to her. They didn’t have a flotation device. I got the raft out to her, and I said, OK, let’s get a rope to her so she doesn’t drift away, and they said, ‘Oh, we don’t have any rope.’ To sit there and watch this girl suffer for 45 minutes to an hour suffer and scream for help and them to say boats were coming eventually,” said Gapp.
READ MORE: Woman found dead after slipping off cliff into waters off Hawaii island
Hawaii County police say they responded, along with firefighters, within 7 minutes of the 911 call.
The fire truck was not required to carry ocean rescue equipment, and it was 2-am, police say, too dark and dangerous for them to go into the water, especially with a large north swell running.
“We requested services from the fire department for a rescue boat. We attempted to call a fire department helicopter. We also called the Coast Guard,” said Hawaii County Police Captain Todd Pataray.
Gapp says after an hour of watching his girlfriend cling to the raft, the rescue boat and helicopter still hadn’t come, so he ran to get fins to swim out himself, but when he came back, the first responders had lost sight of her.
HFD tells us it was too windy to fly its helicopter that night.
and the rescue boat had to come from Hilo about 15 miles up the coast and arrived at 4 a.m.
A helicopter eventually arrived and found Reyes’ body miles down the coast.
“We take pride in our job, and we will go at all means to try and save a life. This particular incident with the waters were so treacherous that it was not possible for us to enter.”
Her boyfriend says he can’t stop thinking of her slowly drifting away.
“Her sitting on that raft screaming help. ‘What do I do now? What do I do now?’ And me telling her they are going to get you, and they are going to get you. And they never came to get her.”
Police say they do not believe foul play is involved.
The captain for the area tells HNN the first responders that night tried very hard to rescue Reyes and are sending their thoughts and prayers to her ohana.
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Hawaii
Hawaii County Surf Forecast for March 04, 2026 | Big Island Now
Forecast for Big Island Windward and Southeast
| Shores | Tonight | Wednesday | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf | Surf | |||
| PM | AM | AM | PM | |
| North Facing | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 |
| East Facing | 3-5 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 5-7 |
| South Facing | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 |
| Weather | Mostly cloudy. Numerous showers. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Temperature | In the upper 60s. | ||||||
| Winds | East winds 5 to 10 mph. | ||||||
|
|||||||
| Weather | Partly sunny. Numerous showers. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Temperature | In the upper 70s. | |||||
| Winds | East winds 10 to 15 mph. | |||||
|
||||||
| Sunrise | 6:37 AM HST. | |||||
| Sunset | 6:27 PM HST. | |||||
Forecast for Big Island Leeward
| Shores | Tonight | Wednesday | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf | Surf | |||
| PM | AM | AM | PM | |
| West Facing | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 1-3 |
| South Facing | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 |
| Weather | Mostly sunny until 6 PM, then mostly cloudy. Hazy. |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Temperature | In the upper 60s. | ||||||||||
| Winds | West winds around 5 mph early in the afternoon, becoming light and variable. |
||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Weather | Partly sunny. Hazy. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Temperature | In the mid 80s. | ||||||||
| Winds | Light and variable winds, becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon. |
||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Sunrise | 6:41 AM HST. | ||||||||
| Sunset | 6:31 PM HST. | ||||||||
The current moderate northwest swell will continue a gradual decline through Thursday. A small west-northwest swell will arrive on Friday and hold through the weekend, followed by a small north-northwest swell early next week. Choppy east shore surf will build to near seasonal average by Wednesday as trade winds strengthen over and east of the islands. Little change is expected along east facing shores through the weekend, followed by a possible decline early next week if winds veer southerly. Surf along south facing shores will remain small to tiny through the weekend, and some islands may an increase in choppy surf if southerly winds develop early next week.
NORTH EAST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Semi choppy with ESE winds 5-10mph in the morning increasing to 10-15mph in the afternoon.
NORTH WEST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Clean in the early morning with ESE winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions move in during the morning hours with the winds shifting W 5-10mph.
WEST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Semi glassy in the morning with N winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting WNW 5-10mph.
SOUTH EAST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Light sideshore texture in the morning with NE winds 10-15mph. This becomes Sideshore texture/chop for the afternoon.
Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov and SwellInfo.com
Hawaii
Hawaii delegation continues to blast U.S. attack on Iran | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Hawaii
Blood moon to dazzle Hawaii skies tonight
We recognize you are attempting to access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) including the EU which
enforces the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and therefore access cannot be granted at this time.
For any issues, contact news@kitv.com or call 808-535-0400 .
-
World7 days agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts7 days agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Denver, CO7 days ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Louisiana1 week agoWildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
-
Oregon5 days ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling
-
Florida3 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Maryland3 days agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Wisconsin2 days agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin