A mother and her two young sons have been missing for four years after embarking on what was intended to be a yearlong sailing trip with a captain later accused of creating sexually explicit images of a child.
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 authorities.
Bernstein had reportedly hired 62-year-old Captain Donald Steven Lang to take the family on the voyage after meeting him through Workaway, a website that connects travelers with hosts. She planned to help maintain his 52-foot sailing vessel in exchange for accommodation.
When the family failed to return the following year, the US Coast Guard was notified that they were missing, Hawaii News Now reports.
At the time, FBI Honolulu Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill said Bernstein had lived a nomadic life and had become estranged from relatives before going to sea.
“Interviews and intelligence indicated she was probably living off grid and off of the land somewhere in Hawaii,” Merrill said.
The investigation took a new turn this summer when federal prosecutors announced Lang’s arrest. He is accused of producing sexually explicit images of a minor aboard the Ishi, the sailboat that was often moored in Hawaii.
Abigail Bernstein, 32 at the time, was last seen leaving Honolulu’s Ala Wai Boat Harbor with sons Koa Kai, then eight, and Kush Kahole, then six, in October 2022
Bernstein had arranged for Captain Donald Steven Lang, now 63, to take the family sailing
According to an indictment, the Canadian-American dual national pressured a minor to take part in sexually explicit conduct between September and December 2024, allegedly to create images that could be transmitted. The conduct was said to have taken place aboard the Ishi.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: At Least 5 Confirmed Dead After NYC Building Collapse as Massive Rescue Operation Continues
Lang was also charged in Idaho in 2025 in connection with alleged child sexual abuse authorities say occurred between 2003 and 2007.
Those charges include three counts of lewd conduct with a child under 16 and one count of sexual battery.
After an extensive search, the sailboat was taken into federal custody in August. Lang had reportedly last been seen aboard the vessel in January and was himself reported missing in January 2023, the Toronto Sun reports.
If convicted, the 63-year-old could face up to 30 years in federal prison.
The whereabouts of Bernstein and her sons, however, remain unknown.
Their disappearance was recently featured in an episode of the Unsolved Mysteries series. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information that helps authorities safely locate the mother and her children.
Lang was arrested this 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 reported connections in several locations outside Hawaii, including 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 who may have information about the family’s disappearance is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
The Daily Mail has contacted the FBI’s Honolulu office for further comment.