Body found near 'Ewa farm
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Employees of an 'Ewa farm made a disturbing discovery yesterday when they saw the feet of a dead woman sticking out of a tarp that had been dumped near the farm's entrance.
Honolulu police yesterday opened a homicide investigation after the body of the unidentified woman was discovered shortly after 5:30 a.m. Homicide Lt. David Kamai said the woman was wrapped in a blanket and tarp and was left near a gate at the farm at 91-2161 Old Fort Weaver Road.
The medical examiner was to perform an autopsy. Kamai described the woman, who appeared to be in her 30s, as a "local, Asian."
He said yesterday that the woman did not match the description of anyone who has been reported missing. No arrests had been made as of yesterday.
Kamai said the workers left the small farm at about 8 p.m. Thursday and secured one of two gates. When they returned at about 5:30 a.m. yesterday, they found "some rubbish" and something rolled in a comforter or blanket and tarp on a dirt roadway in front of the gate.
Kamai said people have been illegally dumping garbage near the entrance to the farm and the workers didn't think anything was out of the ordinary.
"They go about their business at work and somebody said, 'Hey, go clean up that mess,' " Kamai said. He said the employees collected the garbage, took it onto the farm and threw it in a bin.
"They put it into a bin where they burn rubbish. But before burning it, they wanted to check there's no combustibles or something dangerous and they discovered feet sticking out.
"It's a good thing they checked or we'd have nothing."
Kamai said police could not tell if the woman had any visible injuries because they opened the tarp and blanket only enough to see the woman's face. But he said he believes the woman died before her body was dumped at the farm.
"The area wasn't that good to do an examination like that. We didn't want to lose any evidence so we'll do it in a sterile location to keep everything in that cloth," Kamai said.
Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.
