UPDATE: Missing Person Believed to Have Mental Illness

David Allen Janatka. Photos courtesy Maui Search and Rescue.

Editor’s note: There is evidence via the Cleveland Police Department to suggest that Janatka may be a dangerous individual with psychiatric problems. Maui Now in no way endorses approaching this missing person – instead, contact the police.

By Wendy Osher

The Maui Search and Rescue organization and the Maui Police Department have released information on an individual reported missing on Maui.

David Allen Janatka, 50, was last seen around Feb. 19, 2014, when he took out a car rental on Maui, paying for a week of use.

Maui police have since released information saying that Janatka is believed to be suffering from mental illness and was last seen “talking to himself and acting irrationally.”

David Allen Janatka. Photo courtesy Maui Police.

Family members tell the organization that when they spoke to Janatka around that day, “he seemed very anxious and exhausted because of lack of sleep.”

The rental vehicle was found abandoned on the side of the road, with one of the windows left half open, and the man’s cell phone, car keys and two pieces of luggage left within, according to Jeff Simon, director of the newly formed Maui Search and Rescue.

Police say the rental vehicle was found on Feb. 22, 2014, at the bottom of ʻUlaʻino Road in Hāna. Police say Janatka was not in the area, and a search proved unsuccessful.

Family members tell the organization that they believe Janatka may have gone for a hike near the location where the vehicle was found, tried to find a waterfall or a place to sleep in nature, or possibly attempted to “disconnect himself from the world for a short time.”

Hāna Police Lieutenant Stephen Orikasa received reports that a person matching Jantka’s description was observed heading out of Hāna, and was last seen in the area of Keʻanae, according to police reports.

Prior to his arrival on Maui, Janatka spent time on the North Shore and Waikiki areas of Oʻahu, according to Simon.

Maui Search and Rescue says the purpose for Janatka’s trip to Hawaiʻi was to try and “spend some time in some sort of spiritual retreat.”

Janatka is described as 5-feet-10-inches tall and weighs 175 to 185 pounds, with gray hair and blue eyes.

Police say Janatka was reported missing by his girlfriend on March 12, 2014.  Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Detective Michael Callinan at (808) 244-6429.