Dayne Kawika Ortiz was 18 years old when he disappeared from the waters off Waialua, Hawaii, on November 2, 2013. He was a young man from Honolulu, a Farrington High School student, and a member of the Farrington Governors football team. Public missing-person records describe him as biracial, Pacific Islander and White, with black hair and brown eyes, standing about 6 feet tall and weighing about 175 pounds.
He had distinctive tattoos: “ORTIZ” across his chest and a full tribal sleeve tattoo on his arm. On the day he was last seen, he was wearing black size 33 “SoCal” board shorts.
That day began as a family outing near Mokuleia Beach, in the area fronting the Mokuleia Polo Fields. Dayne was on a kayak in rough water, roughly 100 yards offshore, when he was seen struggling. Reports state that the kayak capsized and Dayne vanished into the water. The ocean that had been part of a day with family quickly became the center of a desperate search. Later that evening, his empty kayak washed ashore, confirming that the vessel had returned without him. In the days that followed, divers recovered two pieces of his board shorts, but no confirmed sign of Dayne himself was found.
The search that followed was extensive and heartbreaking. According to case summaries, search efforts covered more than 720 square miles, but they did not locate Dayne. The Charley Project lists him as a lost/injured missing person and states that he is presumed drowned, while public NamUs records continue to identify the matter as Missing Person / NamUs #MP69922. Because no public source located for this synopsis states that Dayne was found alive or that his remains were recovered, the case is best understood through the available records as a missing-person case involving a presumed drowning at sea, with the exact final circumstances still painfully incomplete.
Dayne’s disappearance rippled deeply through his school, his team, and his wider community. Hawaii Prep World reported that he was a senior cornerback on Farrington’s football team and that Coach Randall Okimoto described him as one of the team’s most improved players. The Governors had played in the OIA Red championship game the night before the tragedy, and within days, teammates, friends, and supporters gathered around the Ortiz ohana. The team went to Mokuleia to support the family, and a campus vigil at Farrington High School reportedly drew about 1,000 people.
In December 2013, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser published an obituary notice for Dayne Kawika Ortiz, describing him as an 18-year-old Farrington High School student from Honolulu and announcing celebration-of-life services at the Farrington High School gymnasium. The notice named his parents, brother, and grandparents among those who survived him, and it directed donations to the Dayne Ortiz Memorial Fund. Even as loved ones honored his life and grieved what had happened, the public missing-person record remained tied to the ocean off Waialua, where Dayne was last seen in the kayak.
Dayne Ortiz’s case is the story of an 18-year-old son, brother, student, and teammate whose life was suddenly interrupted during a family fishing trip on Oahu’s North Shore. He was last seen off Waialua near the Mokuleia Polo Fields, about 100 yards from shore, struggling in rough water before his kayak capsized. His empty kayak later came ashore, pieces of his board shorts were recovered, and search teams covered a vast area without finding him. The case stands as a devastating loss for his family and community: Dayne Kawika Ortiz, missing from Waialua, Hawaii, since November 2, 2013, remembered by those who loved him and still defined in public records by the unanswered absence left behind in the water.Last Seen: Nov 2, 2013
