Hirofumi Matusumoto, 31, was last seen outside the reef behind the Aquarius Hotel, surfing with a friend, police said.
“As of this time the victim has not been located. The search will continue until further notice,” said Department of Public Safety acting spokesman PO2 Jason T. Tarkong in a statement yesterday.
The search resumed early yesterday morning and involved the DPS Boating Safety Rescue Team, the Emergency Management Office, the DPS Fire Search and Rescue Unit, and the U.S. Coast Guard which deployed a helicopter and the Coast Guard Cutter Washington.
DPS responded to a stranded surfer call at about 5:20 p.m., Sunday.
Officers David Rabualiman and Roy Kaipat were able to borrow two jet skis from the Big Boyz concession stand to respond to the call.
Officers Jimmy Sablan, Elias Saralu, and Nobert Pua also responded using the DPS Zodiac boat.
They searched the immediate and surrounding areas but did not locate the victim, Tarkong said.
Based on the account of the victim’s friend, they were surfing at about 4 p.m. behind the Aquarius Hotel.
The two surfers, however, were pulled outside the reef by the strong current.
Police said the victim shouted to his friend that he needed help as he tried to paddle back toward the shore.
The two attempted to fight the current and paddled south, and about 30 minutes later, the victim’s friend was able to paddle back to shore but he could no longer locate Matusumoto, police said.
The search was called off at about 8 p.m., when lighting conditions became poor.
An hour later, the search resumed with the assistance of the U.S. Coast Guard helicopter.
The search continued until after midnight, but here was no sighting of the victim, police said.
Tarkong said DPS has closed the beach surrounding Sugar Dock and no one was allowed to fish, surf, or swim in the area due to hazardous surf and rescue operations.
DPS also responded to an incident involving an overturned canoe at the same location, earlier on the same day.
Police rescued the victim and brought him safely to shore.
The victim was assisted by a local surfer, Robert Jordan, police said.
