Name: Stephen Alvin Reisberg
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: September 9, 1990
Location Last Seen: Kauai, Kauai County, Hawaii
Date of Birth: January 14, 1956
Age: 34 years old
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Steve
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Dr. Stephen Reisberg and his wife, Jenny Sun-Reisberg, vanished in September 1990, during a hike in Kokee State Park, a 4,000-acre park on the island of Kauai.
They were experienced hikers who had left Boston on August 27, to hike in the Tetons before flying to Hawaii. They were scheduled to return home to Boston on September 9 and Jenny was to report back to work on September 14. Ten days later, after not returning to work, the couple were reported missing on September 24.
The last person to see the couple was the program director at Kokee Museum of National History in Kokee State Park in Kauai. He's uncertain of the exact date but believes it was after September 9. The program director said the couple studied maps of Mt. Waialeale for over an hour and talked of visiting the summit of the island. The hike takes several days, and he tried to dissuade the couple from making the hike. The mount is described as a vast wilderness with almost no trails and cliffs with straight drops of nearly 4,000 feet.
Two weeks after they were last seen, their rental car was found at the Puu O Kila Lookout in Kokee State Park. Inside the vehicle were the couple's backpacks, tents, and suitcases packed for the flight home to Boston, possibly suggesting the couple had intended nothing more than a short day hike.
For two weeks, bloodhounds, helicopters, law enforcement, and experienced hikers searched the park for the couple. All that turned up was a scarf similar to one Jenny had packed in her suitcase and a report of a hiker who claimed to have heard the sound of a woman moaning 10 days prior.
Agency Name: Kauai Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 808-241-1696
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: Q15468
NCIC Case Number: M-837652090
Boston Globe - Jun. 26, 1996
Added: prior to 2006; Last Updated: 11/30/23 - By: hb
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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