HONOLULU -- A former Kauai resident is confirmed among the dead in Thailand. The 58-year-old man was among thousands killed in a series of tsunamis to hit South Asia and parts of eastern Africa.

David Sammann was living in a village north of Phuket, Thailand, called Khao Loc, when the tsunami hit.

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Sammann spent many years of his life on Kauai. He owned a taxi company on the Garden Isle before marrying a Thai woman and moving to Phuket about four years ago.

"The embassy did call us. I guess it was the embassy in Bangkok. They called us about 1 o'clock," Sammann's stepmother, Betty Sammann, said. "His dad answered the telephone and they told him that his son was found. We knew they were looking for him and they said they had found his son."

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Betty Sammann said as soon as she got word of the tsunami hitting Thailand she knew her stepson would somehow be affected.

"We knew where he was and at. We knew he was in the middle of it in Phuket," Betty Sammann said.

He was about two weeks away from finishing his new home before he was killed.

An underwater earthquake registering 9.0 on the Richter scale caused the series of massive tidal waves. The tsunamis killed people in 11 countries from Asia to Africa. Sri Lanka is where most of the deaths are recorded.

The Sammann family said David was very close to his parents and two brothers. His family last saw him in April when he brought his wife and daughter to California. David's stepmother said even though David lived thousands of miles away from home, he never let the distance keep him from staying in touch.

"He called just about every week to 10 days to say hi and if we were okay," Betty Sammann said.

David Sammann is survived by his parents, two brothers, a wife and 5-year-old daughter.