Body found in search for missing woman
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer
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| Honolulu Police Department's Mounted Unit officers took part in the search for Helen Hun in Wai'anae. |
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| Bronson Lewis was playing with a friend when they found the decomposed body of a woman near a stream.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser |
At that same moment, two young boys chasing chickens stumbled across the decomposed body of a woman in the underbrush near Ma'ili'ili Stream and Pa'akea Road — less than a half-mile from Hun's home on Alapaki Street.
HPD homicide Detective Bill Kato, at the scene, said officers were treating the case as a "suspicious unattended death."
Police sealed off the area, and the body was removed at 11:40 a.m. and taken to the medical examiner's office.
Watching the commotion was Bronson Lewis, 9. The boy said he and a neighbor, Roland Kido, 12, discovered the body in a ditch behind his family's home on Pa'akea Road while the two were chasing chickens.
"He came running in the house and said, 'Mom, there's a dead body.' " said Christine Lewis. "So, they took us over and showed us and at first I thought it was a pig or something. Then, when I got more close, I could see fingers and a hand and a body.
"It was easy to tell it was a woman. But I couldn't tell ... her age or anything."
Helen Hun was last seen Nov. 3.
Kato said police had not ruled out foul play, but added that investigators were unable to see any obvious injuries because of the condition of the body.
"The body was in decomposition, so you can't tell an age or really even give a description other than maybe (it is) about 5'6" to 5'8" and 130 to maybe 150 pounds," said Kato. He said it appeared that the person had been dead less than a week.
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Camero said the last time Hun, who suffers from dementia, was seen alive by a credible witness was Nov. 4. He said police believe there is a possibility that Hun may have been given shelter by two elderly women seen with her at the time.
Searchers scoured neighborhoods from Makaha to Nanakuli, handing out flyers. The effort included members of the HPD mounted unit.
Sgt. Deborah Wilson said,. "We're going to areas that are a little more accessible on horseback, a little quicker and we can see a little further."
Hun's daughter, Helen Sanpei, said her family was not giving up hope that Hun is still alive. She said search efforts would continue.
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
