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.

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