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04/11/2009 Paolo Dominici ( Hawaii ) ***Fatal***

Listing of the Shark Attack Related Incidents occurring in 2009. 2009 Shark Attacks
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sharkbait
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04/11/2009 Paolo Dominici ( Hawaii ) ***Fatal***

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UPDATE: Bone fragment of diver missing while spearfishing in Kona confirmed
Updated at 11:25 am, Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tags: big island, kona, missing diver, police, san francisco, spearfishing


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POLICE MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE (April 22, 2009)

DNA testing has confirmed that a bone fragment recovered by the Hawaii Fire Department in waters off Ali’i Drive are those of 49-year-old Paolo Dominici of San Francisco, who was reported missing after spearfishing in Kailua-Kona.

The Hawaii Police Department is continuing the investigation, as further forensic tests are outstanding.

Dominici went spearfishing with a friend offshore of the Kona Makai Condominiums on Ali’i Drive the morning of April 11. He was reported missing after he failed to return to shore. Fire Department personnel located items belonging to the man and turned them over to the Police Department.

Witnesses reported seeing a boat in the area where Dominici was believed to have been diving. An inspection of some of Dominici’s recovered items indicate that he may have been run over by a boat.

Investigators are still seeking the public’s help in locating witnesses or persons who may have any information about boats in the area of the Kona Makai Condominiums on April 11 between 6:45 a.m. and 10:47 a.m. Police ask anyone with information to call Detective Sharlotte Bird at 326-4646, extension 228, or the Police Department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311.

Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.
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POLICE MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE (April 14, 2009 at 5:00 p.m.)

Investigators from the Hawaii Police Department and the state are continuing their search for a 49-year-old California man who was reported missing after spearfishing in Kailua-Kona on Saturday morning.

Paulo Dominici of San Francisco went spearfishing with a friend offshore of the Kona Makai Condominiums on Alii Drive at 6:45 a.m. Saturday. He was reported missing at 10:47 a.m. after he failed to return to shore.

Fire Department personnel located items belonging to the man and turned them over to the Police Department. No body has been discovered.

Witnesses reported seeing a boat in the area where Dominici was believed to have been diving. An inspection of some of Dominici’s recovered items indicate that he may have been involved in a boating accident.

Investigators from the Area II Criminal Investigations Section and the Conservation Enforcement Division of the State of Hawaii Department of Land And Natural Resources are actively investigating all leads. They have not ruled out the possibility of a shark attack.

The case is still classified as a missing person investigation.

Investigators are seeking the public’s help in locating witnesses or persons who may have any information about boats in the area of the Kona Makai Condominiums on Saturday morning between 6:45 a.m. and 10:47 a.m. Police ask anyone with information to call Detective Sharlotte Bird at 326-4646, extension 228, or the Police Department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311.

Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.
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POLICE MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE (April 14, 2009 at 12:04 a.m.)

The Hawai’i Police Department is asking for the public’s help in providing information about a California man who disappeared while spearfishing in Kona on Saturday (April 11).

Paulo Dominici of San Francisco went spearfishing with a friend off shore fronting the Kona Makai condominiums at 6:45 a.m. The friend returned to shore at 9:30 a.m. At 10:47 a.m., he reported Dominici missing.

Fire Department personnel located items belonging to the fisherman and turned them over to the Police Department. The case is classified as a missing person investigation.

Police ask anyone who may have seen the fisherman to call Detective Sharlotte Bird at 326-4646, extension 228, or the Police Department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.

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UPDATED April 13, 2009

Karin Stanton/Hawaii247.org Contributing Editor

There were no new signs of a missing spearfisherman Monday in waters off Alii Drive.

Big Island police are now handling the case, but have nothing new to report.

Pieces of a wetsuit that washed up about 1 mile from where the 49-year-old San Francisco man was last seen Saturday morning tentatively have been identified as belonging to the missing man, said Reuben Chun, West Hawaii Fire battalion chief.

Other pieces of gear found Saturday - including a glove, knife and knife case, as well as a mask, snorkel and weight belt - have not been verified as belonging to the spearfisherman, he said. The recovered items have been turned over to the police.

Chun said it was not clear whether the spearfisherman might have encountered a shark.

“We don’t know,” he said. “We’re really not sure.”

Authorities typically call in marine experts to determine whether items recovered bear signs of a shark attack, but Chun said he was not sure if police have done so in this case.

The man was reported missing shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday, April 11. He and his partner had been spearfishing for about four hours off Kona Makai Condominiums.

When the man failed to resurface, his dive partner became concerned and his wife called 911. The Fire Department launched a search and rescue effort, which continued through Sunday.

Chun said authorities see no connection between the missing spearfisherman and death of Donna Moran, 61, of Tecumseh, Mich., who was swimming the afternoon of April 7 off Pebble Beach in South Kona when she called for help. Moran did not respond to resuscitation attempts and was pronounced dead at Kona Community Hospital.

Autopsy results are pending.

Anyone who saw the men spearfishing or who may have discovered gear in the area is urged call the West Hawaii Fire Administration at 883-6103 or the Police Department nonemergency line at 935-3311. Those who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 329-8181 or 961-8300.

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Fire/Rescue units in Kona responded to a 10:49 a.m. alarm for a missing diver offshore 75-6026 Alii Drive in Kailua-Kona. Rescue crews included two helicopters and a rescue boat which searched the area for a 49 year-old missing man from San Francisco who had gone out spearfishing earlier in the morning with a dive partner.

Fire Department divers found items apparently identified as belonging to the missing diver and Chopper One also spotted items which were retrieved and turned over to the police who are investigating the incident. The dive partner and wife of the missing diver were on shore at the scene.


http://www.hawaii247.org/2009/04/22/div ... g-in-kona/
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