One of the deadliest places on the island of Hawaii is also a state park. The Wailuku River State Park in Hilo includes the state’s second longest river, where visitors and locals take in the natural beauty at two lookouts: the 80-foot-tall Rainbow Falls and an area about 1.5 miles farther upstream known as “Boiling Pots,” where there are more waterfalls and pools.
Hundreds of thousands of visitors per year frequent the picturesque area to see the different falls, while locals will sometimes spend afternoons there picnicking. But Wailuku, which translates to “waters of destruction,” refers to how dangerous this river can be. Warning signs discourage locals and visitors from stepping beyond the trail and railings; however, some people choose to ignore them.
Over the past 29 years, 27 people have died in these waters. In November 2017, a San Diego couple died after being swept away by a current above Rainbow Falls. In March 2022, the body of a Hilo man was found floating at the bottom of the falls.
The last fatality occurred at Boiling Pots in September when witnesses saw a Florida man “enter the water and immediately be pulled under the rapids,” according to a Hawaii News Now report. The Hawaii Fire Department recovered his body about 30 feet underwater.
Advertisement
Despite its name, Boiling Pots is not hot. It’s in reference to its large terraced pools created by the erosion of old lava flows. On calm days, it looks like individual pots of water, but when the water is turbulent, the water appears to be boiling.
Even on calm days, swimmers have drowned. Strong currents, coupled with the underwater geology of tunnels, ridges and shelves, can trap them and make it impossible to resurface.
“We are quite used to the helicopters and other emergency personnel spending hours and days searching for people and often for bodies at Boiling Pots,” Hawaii County Councilmember Jennifer Kagiwada, who lives in the neighborhood, told SFGATE in an email.
She recently proposed that new signs be installed, which would list the dates of when people have died in this section of the Wailuku River, as a way of discouraging visitors from bypassing the other warning signs already there.
“Since about half the deaths in this part of the river were visitors and half locals, it is important that everyone becomes aware of the dangers here. Some very strong swimmers have died, along with visitors with fewer water skills,” she said.
Advertisement
This strategy has worked on hiking trails, such as at Olomana Trail on Oahu, where six hikers fell to their deaths within a 13-year time span. Since its sign was posted two years ago, there have been zero fatalities on the windward trail. On Kauai, the Kalalau Trail also has handmade signs counting deaths, which instruct visitors to pause and assess the waters before deciding whether or not to cross the stream.
Although an additional sign may help, Hawaii Fire Department Chief Kazuo Todd told Hawaii News Now that it can’t be placed at every point of the river, so sharing information about the dangers is important. “Educating friends, family, relatives that are visiting, or even just people getting off of various ships that are coming to port as part of the tour operations,” he said.
Kagiwada, who held a community meeting about the new sign proposal in November, said she is in contact with the Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources, which manages the state park, and is providing feedback from constituents.
The state department told SFGATE that community input is being considered. “After any revision process, the sign may take up to three weeks (or more) to receive depending on materials in stock, and the installation date and location is to be determined,” the department said.
Editor’s note: SFGATE recognizes the importance of diacritical marks in the Hawaiian language. We are unable to use them due to the limitations of our publishing platform.
HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK (HawaiiNewsNow) – After just over five hours, the latest episode of Kilauea’s eruption began and ended Sunday.
The U.S. Geological Survey said episode 36 began at around 11:15 a.m. with fountains from the north vent that reached about 500 feet high, while fountains from the south vent were about one-third as high.
At around 3:35 p.m., USGS said the south vent remained up to 1,000 feet high, but began dropping at around 3:48 p.m.
The eruption ended at around 4:16 p.m., and USGS said it 10-11 cubic yards of lava that covered over half of the crater.
Advertisement
USGS said episode 36 was preceded by over 180 lava overflow-drainback events at the north vent on Nov. 3, with the south vent following the next day.
According to the National Weather Service, winds are blowing from the northeast, and the USGS believes volcanic gas emissions and material may be distributed to the southwest of the summit of Kilauea.
Shortly before 12:30 p.m., the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said ashfall and tephra are likely to affect the Kau district.
Officials recommend that those with respiratory sensitivities take extra precautions to minimize exposure.
CDA advises drivers to be cautious on the road as visibility may be reduced.
Advertisement
Watch episode 36 here:
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Around 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, Honolulu Police announced 55-year-old Jonnaven Monalim was missing, and was last seen on Wednesday night, Nov. 5, leaving his home in Kapolei.
But just seven hours after they announced he was missing, HPD was investigating a body that was found off a dirt road in Waipahu (near the Waipio Soccer Complex).
Police said officers had located the body of a man with apparent gunshot wounds.
Michael Green, a long-time family attorney for Monalim, told KHON2 that fingerprints taken from the scene where the body was found confirmed it was him.
Advertisement
“They took fingerprints of the body, and they’ve identified it as Jonnaven,” attorney Michael Green said.
“When I hear about bodies being found where they’re doing fingerprint identification, instead of photograph or in-person identification, it’s a rage issue or a payback issue,” explained Green.
Green says the family was not asked to identify Monalim in person or with a photo.
“When they decide not to photograph the face, for identification it shows rage or payback, and I’m not saying who they’re paying back for, and I’m not saying what people were raged about – whether it’s a money debt or something else, or I pay you back for something they think you did in the past – I can’t answer that, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen fingerprint identification where they could not take pictures of the face,” Green said.
On Thursday, Nov. 6, there was heavy police presence in the Pearl City industrial area where Monalim’s girlfriend told Green that Monalim’s hearing aid was found with a bullet casing and a pool of blood.
Advertisement
Monalim has a criminal record dating back to the 1980s. He was the key witness in the high-profile 2004 Pali golf course shooting trial after he wore an FBI wire that secretly recorded a conversation. That recording ultimately led to his cousin Rodney Joseph Jr. and Ethan “Malu” Motta to being sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Green said Monalim had disagreements with other individuals over the years.
“He was a street guy, and he would have been smart enough not to meet a particular person without protecting himself,” Green said. “My guy was not the kind of guy that would just walk around and meet people in the middle of the night; he had to trust the person and feel that he was safe.”
“He never would have gone to meet anybody if he had the slightest concern about his safety, but he certainly, if it was a one-on-one, he trusted the person with his life and he made a mistake apparently,” he added.
Green believes police finding the body in the middle of nowhere means one thing.
Advertisement
“They [police] knew where they were going, so somebody gave up somebody,” he added.
Police have not confirmed any arrests and are deferring identification of the body to the medical examiner. Police will also not say if Monalim’s missing persons case is still active.
On the island of Hawaii, a relatively unknown buyer is purchasing large portions of land, rapidly becoming one of Hawaii’s largest landowners, while also stirring controversy with a Burning Man-inspired annual festival he is trying to cultivate.
Since 2021, Pennsylvania native Andrew Tepper has bought over 14,000 acres in Papaikou near Hilo, according to public records, under his company Teppy Mountain LLC. Tepper held a festival, called Falls on Fire, on his agriculturally zoned property in 2023 and 2024. The events were unpermitted, sparking backlash among his neighbors and government agencies, who have hit him with violations.
Entrance to Indian Tree Road in Papaikou on the island of Hawaii.
Advertisement
Screenshot via Google Street View
Hawaii County spokesperson Tom Callis told SFGATE that Teppy Mountain has been fined $34,000 so far. “As this is a private event that involves many people that exceeds the customary use of the agricultural property, it requires a Special Permit,” Callis said.
To comply, Tepper submitted a Special Use Permit with the Windward Planning Commission in September 2024 for the annual event, which calls for a four-day-long festival with overnight camping and commercial vehicle storage on approximately 14.7 acres of the Papaikou land, with a maximum attendance of 500. As at Burning Man, a burning ceremony of an effigy is lit on fire to close the event.
“Hawaiian culture and Burning Man culture share so many principals… decommodification, communal effort, gifting, participation, ‘leave no trace’ – those are all things I keep noticing in Hawaiian culture, and they are stated principles of Burning Man culture. Falls on Fire is such a wonderful blending of those cultures,” Tepper told SFGATE in an email.
“If any readers are Burning Man participants, come visit my camp, Habitat for Insanity, and I will serve you the fanciest, most delicious shave ice on the playa,” he continued.
Tepper is now awaiting a contested case hearing on Nov. 13, 2025, before a decision is made about whether to approve or deny the permit. But until the permit is approved, the event is not authorized to be held.
Article continues below this ad
Advertisement
The Papaikou lands, outlined in the map, amount to over 14,000 acres near the town of Hilo, Hawaii.
County of Hawaii
A private gathering
Despite repeated warnings by the Hawaii Planning Department not to hold the event, it took place last year from Nov. 8 to 11, with over 200 attendees.
No event has been publicized this year, but details were sent out to an email listserv from an email address associated with Falls on Fire stating that an event would take place Nov. 7 to 9, 2025, referring to it as a “private gathering” with no charge and advising participants to “keep it off all public pages” so it can avoid a “$500 per day fine.”
SFGATE obtained a copy of the email, dated Oct. 8, and it links to a new website with private access and a “bible for everything FoF” that details rules, fire safety, sound policy, theme camps and volunteer information. Tepper confirmed that it was from an email address that he and other organizers are using, but also added that “it is not the email that invitations were sent from.”
Advertisement
Tepper also told SFGATE that he is “having a smaller private gathering while the permit is pending. I hope to have the permit next year, and if I do, I will again welcome members of the public to experience this incredible property.”
Hawaii County would not comment on whether it is aware of another event happening this year, but did tell SFGATE that “the Planning Department will issue another notice” if an unpermitted event is held.
A waterfall in Papaikou on the island of Hawaii, Oct. 14, 2018.
Michael Leggero/Getty Images
Asked whether or not it is something that would get shut down, Hawaii County Police Department told SFGATE it “does not necessarily enforce permit violations, however if we received noise and/or other complaints then police would respond.”
Article continues below this ad
Advertisement
Hawaii County said more or less the same: “Reports of illegal or unsafe activities can be made to the Police or Fire departments, and they will respond based on the complaint.”
More land acquisitions
Earlier this year, Tepper purchased additional properties in the towns of Keaau and North Kona, according to public records. Then in October, he made another large acquisition when he bought the 792-acre Kupaianaha Ranch for $10.59 million. The ranch, near Hilo Forest Reserve, has waterfalls, orchards, pastureland and a two-story, 8,542-square-foot log cabin.
Tepper told SFGATE he purchased the property because he likes agricultural land. “The new property has a large lychee orchard that had been neglected, and I’ve already started tending the trees. I’m hoping that by next year we’ll be producing a small crop, and then be back to full production the following year or so,” Tepper told SFGATE in an email.
The purchase of Kupaianaha Ranch brings his total landholdings to over 15,000 acres on Hawaii Island. By comparison, Hilo, the largest town on the island, is approximately 35,000 acres, while the second-largest, Kailua-Kona, is 8,832 acres.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Andrew Tepper in a 1995 article in the Press Enterprise in Pennsylvania.
newspapers.com
It’s a sizable sum that puts Tepper among the top wealthy Hawaii landowners, somewhere between Larry Ellison’s 87,810 acres on Lanai and Mark Zuckerberg’s 2,300 acres on Kauai. Others, like Oprah Winfrey, Michael Dell and Jeff Bezos, fall below.
Tepper is the founder and president of game development studio eGenesis, which started in 1998. He is best known for his work on “A Tale in the Desert,” a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, launching it in 2003. Then in 2013, eGenesis created Dragon’s Tale, an MMORPG casino that uses cryptocurrency. Tepper graduated from Carnegie Mellon University and ran a software company before starting eGenesis.
Aside from the Falls on Fire festival, it’s unclear what Tepper plans to do with the combined 15,000 acres, but he has a history of purchasing large properties in other states, including the 1,143-acre Dream Mountain Ranch in West Virginia in 2018. He opened it to guided trophy deer and elk hunts the following year.
Advertisement
Editor’s note: SFGATE recognizes the importance of diacritical marks in the Hawaiian language. We are unable to use them due to the limitations of our publishing platform.
We have a newsletter all about Hawaii, with news, tips and in-depth features from the Aloha state. Sign up here.
