Search ends, Norwegian man still missing in Hawaii

A massive three-day search for a missing Norwegian in Hawaii has come to a close.

Are Hjorungnes, a professor from Norway, disappeared on Saturday when he got separated from his group – the Hawaiian Ultra Running Team – during a trail run in the mountainous forest on Hawaii’s main island. But on Tuesday the search for him was called off after no signs of the man were found in three days.

The search was aided by the Honolulu Police Department, the Honolulu Fire Department, the Hawaiian Department of Land and Natural Resources and a number of volunteer hikers. Police used helicopters equipped with thermal imaging, and fire crews used systematic search methods throughout the effort.

The mathematics professor has been staying on the Hawaiian island of Oahu since July of last year, where he was participating in research studies at the University of Hawaii’s electrical engineering department. Several members of the university’s faculty were also participating in the event when he went missing.

Tony Kuh, Department of Electrical Engineering head from the University of Hawaii, said to reporters that he was a ‘very nice guy’ and was avid about being in the outdoors. Speaking before the search ended on Tuesday he said, “I just hope that they can find something. I did talk to the mother and the sister yesterday. Of course, they were very distraught,” Hawaii’s KGMB news channel reports.