Missing newlywed hiker’s body found on Molokai hillside
Maryland man was found about a half-mile from Wavecrest Resort
The body of a 27-year-old Maryland man who was reported missing when he didn’t return from a hike was found Friday morning on a hillside in an area called Pia Gulch on Molokai, police said.
A volunteer assisting with the search for Stephen Kramar found the body in the location about a halfmile northeast of the Wavecrest Resort in Kaunakakai, police said.
Family members identified the body as Kramar, police said. An autopsy will be scheduled.
Kramar and his wife, Jeffanie, were staying at the Wavecrest while on their honeymoon, following their Sept. 8 wedding.
In Facebook posts, Jeffanie Kramar said her husband had left the Wavecrest to go into the mountains Monday morning, saying he would be back before 6 p.m. She reported last hearing from him at about 2:30 p.m. Monday when he said, “Travel is slow but I am on the way back.”
Kramar had a water bottle and was wearing Vans shoes, according to his wife.
Kramar had been scouting the area to make sure it was safe to take his wife hiking with him, according to a GoFundMe account set up for the family.
A Fire Department crew of 12 to 14 firefighters had been searching on foot for the missing man while the Fire Department’s Air One helicopter was used to search by air. Police Special Response Team members and a police tracking dog joined in the search to try to pick up the hiker’s scent but were unable to find anything, police said.
Several local volunteers independently assisted with their own searches, police said.
On Thursday night, Jeffanie Kramar had asked for more volunteers because the official search was ending Friday morning.