By Aaron Vehling

A former Chisago County man and 1993 Chisago Lakes High School graduate disappeared while surfing in Hawaii Friday, March 13. The search for him was called off after three days.

Aaron Lamson, 34, a tour guide and seasoned surfer on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i, lost his surfboard at about 1:41 p.m. on March 13 at a spot called “Crack 14,” located around the bend from Kuna Bay, according to a report from the Kaua’i County Fire Department.

For three days, firefighters and rescue workers conducted shoreline searches, as lifeguards searched the water on jet skis and as  the U.S. Coast Guard  searched by helicopter and plane.

A Coast Guard spokesman said that what appeared to be a man’s body was spotted on Saturday in the area he was last seen, according to Hawaiian media. The rough waves hindered the Coast Guard’s efforts to find him.

Lamson was living in Moloa’a, a town on Kaua’i, with his wife, Sofia.

He worked at Kayak Adventures as a tour guide and was known as a seasoned surfer.

Kayak Adventures owners Gayle and Keith Mitzel wrote on their Web site that Lamson “was not only an incredible guide and employee, but an overall good guy with a big heart and spirit. Words can’t describe how sad we all are over this unfortunate accident.”

Friends and family held a memorial gathering Friday, March 20, at Anini Beach on the north coast of Kaua’i from noon until sundown.

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