‘Red cloud’ surrounded large shark when Washington woman vanished, Hawaii report says

The Washington woman who vanished Dec. 8 off a Hawaii beach died from a “miscellaneous accident” — most likely caused by an aggressive shark, according to a case update from the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Investigators reached that conclusion after interviewing witnesses who reported seeing a large shark feeding on something in a pool of red water, officials said. A body has yet to be recovered.

Identities of the 60-year-old woman and her husband have not been released.

The vacationing couple was snorkeling about 50 yards off Keawakapu Point in South Maui when they encountered an “aggressive shark,” according to the missing woman’s husband.

“He and his wife were not snorkeling right next to one another and he could only see her from time to time. As the shark continued to circle him he continued looking for his wife ... popping his head out of the water and scanning the surface,” officials said.

“He did spot something in the distance and then the shark came back, and he could see something red around the shark’s gills,” officials said. “At that time, he said people on the beach began yelling at him to get out of the water because a shark was feeding in the area.”

His account was corroborated by witnesses who saw the shark, including a man who called 911 to report a possible attack.

“Earlier (one witness) spotted the couple snorkeling and began looking for them to warn them ‘when he saw the shark’s large mouth continuing to feed on something in the middle of the red cloud in the water’,” officials said. “He continued yelling for the man to get out of the water but no longer was seeing the woman.”

The investigation was conducted by the Maui Police Department and DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, officials said.

Searchers reported a tiger shark in the area after the suspected attack, and estimated it at 10 to 12 feet long, state officials said. Tiger sharks have been linked to 39 “unprovoked” fatal attacks worldwide, according to records kept by the Florida Museum of Natural History.

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