Search ends for Alec ‘Ace Cool’ Cooke on North Shore

The search for missing Hawaiian surfer Alec ‘Ace Cool’ Cooke, has been called off.

Ace, 59, was last seen on Tuesday before he paddled out to a 20 to 25-foot swell near Waimea Bay. After his girlfriend reported him missing Wednesday, having not returned to his Waialua home, his truck was found at a church near Waimea, his dog and keys still inside. Later, a friend found his surfboard.

“A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules plane, the USCGC Kittiwake, as well as Coast Guard and Hawaii Fire Department helicopter crews were involved in the search for Cooke, covering an approximately 8,900-square-mile area,” reported CNN.

Cmdr. Arex Avanni, deputy commanding officer at Coast Guard Sector Honolulu, said in a statement: “As with any missing persons search we saturated the area in an attempt to locate Mr. Cooke, but pending further developments, we have decided to suspend the active search. The Pacific Ocean is very dangerous, especially when we have heavy surf conditions. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family.”

“We’ve suspended several searches recently for folks who’ve gone missing in the water without locating them, and it does not get easier,” Avanni said.

Cooke was best known for surfing 25 to 30-foot outer Pipeline in 1985. According to Encyclopedia of Surfing, a photo of Ace’s performance, titled The Biggest Wave, became a T-shirt and the “best-selling postcard in Hawaiian history.”