Alec Cooke, a 59-year-old male surfer from the North Shore of Oahu, was last seen on October 27, 2015, near Waimea Bay in Haleiwa, Hawaii, where he had gone into the ocean during powerful surf conditions. Public missing-person records identify him as a White/Caucasian man, about 5 feet 9 inches tall and 160 pounds, with white hair and blue eyes, and note that he was wearing a white T-shirt and plaid surf-style shorts when he disappeared.
Cooke was not a casual beachgoer caught unexpectedly by the sea; he was widely known in Hawaii’s surfing world as Alec “Ace Cool” Cooke, a daring big-wave surfer with decades of experience on Oahu’s North Shore. Reports described him as someone who had chased large surf since the 1970s and 1980s, built a reputation around waves that most others would avoid, and had become associated with some of the most dramatic big-wave stories in Hawaiian surfing. On the night he vanished, Waimea Bay was drawing serious swell, with reports placing the waves around 20 to 30 feet, and friends said it was not unusual for him to surf at night, sometimes using lights or glow sticks so he could paddle out when no one else was in the lineup.
When Cooke did not come home, concern quickly turned into a search. His girlfriend reported him missing after he failed to return from the surfing trip, and authorities later found his truck near Waimea Bay with his dog and keys still inside. His surfboard was also located and recovered; public case summaries say it was found ashore broken in half, a heartbreaking sign of the force of the ocean that day. The U.S. Coast Guard, Honolulu police, and local responders searched by air, sea, and shoreline, using aircraft, helicopter crews, vessels, jet skis, and other assets across a vast area of the Pacific. The Coast Guard later reported that search crews covered approximately 8,930 square miles before suspending the active search, with officials emphasizing the danger of heavy surf conditions and expressing sympathy for Cooke’s friends and family.
In the years since, Alec Cooke’s disappearance has remained tied to the place and way he was last known to be living his life: drawn toward Waimea Bay, the North Shore, and the immense winter surf that had shaped his identity for decades. Public records and case summaries describe him as never recovered after he entered the water, and no public source reviewed here indicates that he was later found alive or that his remains were recovered. The case stands as a painful story of a man deeply connected to the ocean, remembered by many for courage, risk, and devotion to big-wave surfing, while those who cared about him were left without the final certainty that families so often need. In overview, Alec Cooke was a 59-year-old man last seen on October 27, 2015, at Waimea Bay Beach Park in Haleiwa, Hawaii, after entering dangerous surf; his vehicle, dog, keys, and damaged board were found, an extensive ocean search followed, and he was never recovered.
Last Seen: Oct 27, 2015
