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Man Dies In Plunge At Big Island Waterfall

Victim Out With Sister At Pe`epe`e Falls

POSTED: 8:06 am HST May 28, 2008
UPDATED: 8:17 am HST May 28, 2008

A 27-year-old Big Island man died Tuesday after a fall at a popular swimming hole.

It happened just before 12:30 p.m. at Boiling Pots, also known as Pe'epe'e Falls.

Big Island police have identified the man as Vincent E. Scerbo, of Puna.

He is the second person in three days to die in a fall at a waterfall site in Hilo.

Scerbo's outing with his sister took a tragic turn when he decided to scale a wall near Pe'epe'e Falls.

Scerbo was standing under a waterfall when he either fell or jumped backwards, Big Island police said.

He hit his head on the rocks 10 feet below before sliding into the water, officials said. Scerbo surfaced once before disappearing under water, police said.

Scerbo's sister sought help from other visitors.

"We just heard her yelling," Canadian visitor Russ Stead said. "When she got out of the water she said call 911, and then she actually ran to call 911 and I went with another person to see if we could find her brother."

Bystanders comforted Scerbo's sister before fire rescue crews arrived.

Big Island fire used a helicopter to deploy three rescue divers. They recovered Scerbo from the water. The chopper airlift him to the Boiling Pots lookout.

Paramedics tried to resuscitate him, but Scerbo was pronounced dead at Hilo Medical Center at 1:30 p.m., officials said.

Scerbo is the second man to die in a fall at a waterfall site in three days. On Sunday, Hilo resident Andrew Wright, 28, died in an 80-foot fall into a pond on the Old Mamalahoa Highway, north of Hilo.

Wright's death has been classified an accident.

The medical examiner must still officially determine how Scerbo died.

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