Police and Fire rescue teams have been searching the mountains above Aiea since late Thursday. When Parsons told friends he was going for a hike down Waimalu Trail.

"When he didn't show up by one o'clock, I thought he'd stop to chat with somebody and he'd sure be back in another hour or two," said friend, Alexander Gaston.

But he never returned. Parsons' children got word of their dad's disappearance and flew in from Australia to help.

"We've seen nothing of him, we haven't seen a sign of anything," said Maryl Robertson, Parsons daughter. "We're just all concentrating here because no one is really sure."

With no sign of him, fire dispatch called off their ground search Saturday morning. But, later that night they got a break in the case. A witness came forward sparking rescue crews to re-ignite their efforts.

"The credible report from a pig hunter indicated a sighting more in this area away from the path," said Honolulu Fire Department Captain Terry Seelig.

About five miles from where Parsons was said to have began his hike.

"It's a big area, big and rugged area and it's hard looking out there," said Robertson.

"Anybody that was to wander off the trail for whatever reason would be difficult to find," said Seelig. "Steep, overgrown, rocky terrain and it's gonna be difficult to do a through search, but at least that new information leads us to that area ."

Parsons was known to be an experienced hiker. Completing treks in the Himalayas and to Everest base camp.

"Are we confident? Sometimes we're confident, sometimes were not it just depends, we're up and down," said Robertson.

"Still considering this to be a search for a rescue we're optimistic, the sooner we can find him the better," said Seelig.

Honolulu Fire Department will suspend their search at dark Sunday night, but resume Monday morning at eight a.m.

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