ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A missing hiker from St. Petersburg has been found dead on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

Craig Pitt, 35, was last seen at a hostel on Wednesday.

He recently told his friends and family about a waterfall he wanted to climb.

"He asked me if I wanted to go on the Hana side to explore a couple of waterfalls," said Billy Cimorelli, who works at the Banana Bungalow hostel and was a friend of Pitt. "He had heard about or had went to this other ocean waterfall that drops into the ocean out in Hana and he wanted to go see if he could find some other ones in that same area." 

When Pitt didn't return to the hostel, the manager called police.

Pitt's body was discovered three days later at the base of the waterfall.

His mother, Lisa Caraffi, said her son was "fearless" and loved adventure.

"He was funny, he was so smart, he was a world traveler, he was a risk taker, he was an adventurer," she said in a phone call from Hawaii, where she had gone to aid in the search.

Police aren't sure how Pitt died, but foul play is not suspected.

His family said it appears he fell from the top of the waterfall.

They said police told them recent rain had left the ground slippery.

"He wasn't afraid of anything, ever," said Caraffi.

She said while his life was relatively short in years, it was long in experiences.

"He died doing exactly what he wanted to do," she explained. "To me, he was the perfect son in so many ways and I'm going to miss him. He was my best friend."

This was the second time this year that a person with Bay area ties went missing in Hawaii.

Amanda Eller, who previously worked as physical therapist in the Bay area, went missing in May but was found after about two weeks.