Fisherman Goes Missing After Giant Tuna Pulls Him Overboard

A fisherman disappeared Sunday after a big tuna reportedly dragged him off a boat and into Hawaiian waters, police said.

Mark Knittle of Captain Cook was fishing with a friend four miles off the coast of Hōnaunau on the Big Island when he hooked the ahi just before 5:00 a.m., according to the Hawaii Police Department.

"The fish is huge," Knittle reportedly said just before getting pulled overboard.

His friend tried to grab the line to save Knittle but missed. The friend saw Knittle on the surface for a quick moment before disappearing "within seconds," police said, adding that the friend attempted to jump in the water but couldn't locate Knittle anymore, New York Post reported.

Police and the Coast Guard have been searching for Knittle since he went overboard. But the massive ahi — which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said could grow up to 6 feet and 400 pounds — might have dragged the fisherman far from where the boat was originally anchored.

"Usually, our incidents like this are along the coastlines. This is a different situation because it's out in the deep," said Darwin Okinaka, Hawaii County Fire Department assistant chief of operations. "If there's a fish that's actually pulling him around, you don't know where he could go."

Knittle was described as five feet 10 inches tall and 185 pounds, with curly brown hair, a white mustache and beard.

Hawaii Fire Department and the Coast Guard personnel were conducting a search for the next 72 hours.

Meanwhile, the body of a man who went missing on Christmas Day after he headed out into San Pablo Bay for a day of fishing has been found, Hawaii Police Department confirmed in a statement.

William Hady Chebib, 32, from Petaluma, launched his fishing boat at approximately 8:00 a.m. Dec. 25 from the Black Point Boat Launch in Novato to go fishing near China Camp State Park. However, he never came back after contacting his family at 3:30 p.m., saying that he was about to return to the boat launch, CBS News reported.

Chebib's remains were discovered by a volunteer aquatic search group, the California Recovery Divers, according to officials. He was located one mile east of the Hamilton Wetlands within San Pablo Bay. The cause of his death was still pending.