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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, January 8, 2006

Missing man's body found

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Rescuers on Kaua'i found the body of a man yesterday who was missing following a boating mishap Friday afternoon.

Joseph Medeiros, 58, of Lihu'e, was found in a cove about three-fourths of a mile upriver from Wailua Marina, according to a statement released by the Kaua'i Fire Department.

Medeiros, a Kaua'i Builders employee, had left the marina dock on a Boston Whaler at about 2:30 p.m. Friday to pick up co-workers from the Fern Grotto, where they had been working on a project.

He never showed up. The boat was found, authorities said, but not Medeiros.

The Kaua'i Fire Department, the state Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement and the Coast Guard launched a search.

The search continued at 8:30 a.m. yesterday, with rescuers closing off the river to traffic and combing a quarter-mile area, shore to shore.

About four hours later, Coast Guard officials left on another call and the remaining rescuers moved upriver.

Medeiros' body was found at 4:10 p.m.

An autopsy was pending.

Reach Karen Blakeman at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.