In the early morning hours of March 14, 2006, a then one-year-old toddler named Rowan Fehring-Dingwall was with his parents on their property in Kauai, Hawaii. After an unrelenting 40 days of rain, the local Ka Loko Dam breached, unleashing an estimated 400 million gallons of water that descended upon the community below. The resulting floodwaters, described as a wall of water between 20 and 70 feet high, swept away the home where young Rowan, his parents, and their friends were.
The group was tragically caught in the deluge, and in the chaos that followed, Rowan was separated from his family and disappeared into the turbulent waters.
Rowan's parents, Aurora Solveig Fehring Dingwall and Alan Gareth Dingwall, were among the seven individuals who lost their lives in the disaster. Also swept away were several guests staying on their property: Timothy Noonan, Daniel Arroyo, and a pregnant Christina Michelle MacNees. The group had been gathered to celebrate the upcoming wedding of Arroyo and MacNees and what would have been Rowan's second birthday in just a few days. In the aftermath, the bodies of Rowan's parents and Christina MacNees were recovered. However, despite extensive search efforts, Rowan, along with Daniel Arroyo, Timothy Noonan, and another friend, Carl Rotstein, were never found.
The catastrophic failure of the century-old Ka Loko Dam was later investigated. It was revealed that the dam had not been inspected by the state's Department of Land and Natural Resources as required by law. The owner of the dam, James Pflueger, was subsequently indicted on charges of manslaughter and reckless endangerment, with allegations that he had made unpermitted alterations to the dam, including covering its spillway. Years later, in a plea agreement, Pflueger pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment, while his company took responsibility for the manslaughter charges. For the families affected, the legal proceedings brought a difficult and emotional chapter to a close, though the profound loss remains. The case of Rowan Fehring-Dingwall is a heartbreaking reminder of a preventable tragedy; he is presumed to have drowned in the flood, but his body has never been recovered.Last Seen: Mar 13, 2006
