HILO, Hawai'i — Family and friends held a memorial service at Kehena Beach Sunday for an Orchid Land Estates man who has been missing since he became separated from his dive partner on Jan. 14 while the two were swimming to a reef off the Puna Coast.

Mitchell Hodgson, 24, was a master diver and a certified rescue diver, and had planned to try out a spear gun from the Hilo shop where he worked when he disappeared. His spear gun was later found on the Ka'u coastline nearly 64 miles from Kehena.

Family and friends gathered on the Big Island to help with the search, and searchers hired private helicopters to help the Big Island Fire Department comb the southeast coast of the island.

Fire rescue searchers suspended their search Thursday, and family members and volunteers finally ended their search Saturday, said Tom Hodgson, Mitchell's father.

"We covered about 89 miles of coast, all the way around the Kona side, too," he said. "We pretty much exhausted everything."

Mitchell Hodgson grew up in Martinez, Calif., near San Francisco, and lived in Puna with his wife, Heather, and their infant son.

There were about 30 people on the beach for the memorial service, and two of Mitchell's friend swam out to the ocean area where he disappeared to release flowers to drift in the current, Tom Hodgson said.

He said another memorial service is planned for a few weeks from now in California, but no date has been set yet.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.