Seven suspects in slaying of woman released

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

No charges were filed over the weekend against eight men arrested last week as suspects in the murder of Tracey Mieko Tominaga.

Seven of the men were released yesterday pending further investigation. The eighth was being held on other drug and weapons charges, with bail set at $1 million, detectives said.

Tominaga, a 37-year-old Kapahulu resident and Hilton Hawaiian Village worker, was last seen by a friend at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 20.

On Tuesday, police found her body in a shallow grave above Makakilo. She died of strangulation and suffocation, the medical examiner said, and dental records were used to identify her remains.

Police arrested six men Friday afternoon and evening, and two others shortly afterward.

Homicide Lt. Bill Kato said the first six were "the main guys" in the crime, and police had detained them on suspicion of second-degree murder, kidnapping and hindering prosecution.

The law requires that people arrested on suspicion of a crime be charged within 48 hours. If authorities are not prepared to file charges by that time, the suspects must be released.

About two months before her disappearance, Tominaga witnessed a drug deal that ended in a shooting in which a 26-year-old woman lost an eye, police said.

After her disappearance, Tominaga's mother said she found a note in her daughter's car. In the note, her daughter asked for retaliation if anything happened to her.

Police found her body after a tipster called to tell them where to dig.