Missing scientist Piotr Drabik apparently made his flight from Salt Lake City to Honolulu.
Now, police in Hawaii said they have uncovered new evidence that shows Drabik then traveled to the island of Kauai. But his whereabouts remain a mystery.
"Authorities believe that Drabik may be on Kauai because a record check with a local airline indicated that upon his arrival in the islands on Sept. 1, he purchased a one-way ticket and boarded a plane headed to Kauai at 4 that same afternoon," the Kauai Police Department said in a statement.
Kauai police officials did not return calls for comment on Monday.
Drabik, 34, vanished in September when he didn't return from a vacation to Hawaii. The Polish national had taken a SkyWest flight from Edmonton, Canada, to Salt Lake City. He was supposed to board a connecting Delta Air Lines flight to Honolulu.
Questions were raised about whether or not Drabik was ever on that airplane and disappeared at the Salt Lake City International Airport. His boarding pass was never used, and Hawaiian police said Delta Air Lines believed Drabik was never on the plane.
A Delta Air Lines spokesman said they cannot divulge any information about their passengers.
Police in Maui, Honolulu, Kauai and Salt Lake City have been involved in the missing persons case.
"We're working with all the other agencies as much as needed," airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann said Monday.
Salt Lake City Airport Police eventually tracked down a woman who said she sat next to Drabik on the flight from Utah to Hawaii.
Drabik told friends in Canada he was going to go hiking in the mountains and visit a volcano in Hawaii when he left Edmonton on Sept. 1. Police said he was due back in Canada on Sept. 8.
Drabik is working at the National Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Alberta. He is considered to be a brilliant scientist and an adventurer, with minor celebrity status in his native Poland. Drabik has two doctoral degrees, three master's degrees and is a published author. His Web site biography includes a picture of him at the base of Mt. Everest.
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com