A mother and her two sons have been missing for four years after embarking on a year-long sailing trip with a captain who has since been charged with allegedly producing sexually explicit images of a minor.
Abigail Bernstein, 32 at the time, was last seen in October 2022 leaving Honolulu’s Ala Wai Boat Harbor with her sons, Koa Kai, then eight, and Kush Kahole, then six, according to federal officials.
The mother of two had reportedly hired 62-year-old Captain Donald Steven Lang to take them on the extended voyage. Bernstein met Lang through Workaway, a website connecting travelers with hosts, and agreed to help maintain his 52-foot sailboat in exchange for accommodation.
When the family did not return in 2023, the US Coast Guard was notified of their disappearance, Hawaii News Now reports.
“Ms Bernstein lived a nomadic lifestyle and had cut ties with her family before going out to sea,” FBI Honolulu Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill said at the time.
“Interviews and intelligence indicated she was probably living off grid and off of the land somewhere in Hawaii.”
The investigation took a new turn over the summer, when federal officials announced Lang’s arrest on allegations that he produced sexually explicit images of a minor aboard his sailboat, the Ishi, which was often docked in Hawaii.
Abigail Bernstein, 32 at the time, was last seen leaving Honolulu’s Ala Wai Boat Harbor in October 2022 with her sons, Koa Kai, then eight, and Kush Kahole, then six
She had enlisted the help of Captain Donald Steven Lang, who is now 63
An indictment alleges that the Canadian-American dual national coerced a minor into taking part in sexually explicit conduct to create images intended for transmission between September and December 2024. The alleged acts took place aboard the Ishi.
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Lang was also charged in Idaho in 2025 in connection with alleged child sexual abuse authorities said occurred between 2003 and 2007.
Those allegations resulted in three charges of lewd conduct with a minor under 16 and one charge of sexual battery.
Following an extensive search, the sailboat was taken into federal custody in August. Lang had last been seen aboard the vessel in January and was reported missing in January 2023, the Toronto Sun reports.
The 63-year-old faces a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
The whereabouts of Bernstein and her two sons remain unknown.
The case was recently featured in an episode of the Unsolved Mysteries series, and the FBI is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to the safe recovery of the mother and her children.
Lang was arrested over the summer over allegations that he produced sexually explicit images of a minor aboard the Ishi in 2024
Authorities have said Bernstein is also known by the names Abi, Avi, Avigayil, Abigayil and Ovi. She has connections well beyond the Hawaiian islands, including in Naples, Florida; Petoskey, Michigan; and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, making it more difficult to determine where she and her sons may have gone after leaving the harbor.
Anyone with information about the case is urged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip through tips.fbi.gov.
Our News Outlet has contacted the FBI’s Honolulu office for further information.
