Yesterday, as police searched for clues, the woman's relatives, friends and acquaintances struggled to cope with the tragedy.

"I just want to grieve," said the dead woman's mother, Hisae Davis, who said she and her family were too upset to talk about the death. "I loved my daughter very much."

Staff and clients at Palama Settlement — just around the corner from the residence of Pablico-Davis' family — remained stunned by the case, which is being investigated by HPD homicide detectives.

"I've known her and her brother and sister since they were this big," said Rosie Yano, holding her hands about two feet apart. "They were good kids," said Yano, the receptionist at Palama Settlement for the past 27 years. "They just liked to come in and hang around."

Jamie Pablico-Davis

Those who knew her described Pablico-Davis as a fun-loving person who had a 1-year-old child and was expecting another baby.

"Jamie was happy-go-lucky," said David Leialoha, 23, boyfriend of Pablico-Davis' 19-year-old sister, April. He said April was taking the death of her sister hard because the two had been especially close.

But he said Pablico-Davis' light-hearted outlook had altered in recent months after she became involved with what he called "the wrong crowd."

Last July her boyfriend began serving time at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center for forgery and auto theft. The break-up of that relationship had been difficult for Pablico-Davis, he said.

"She really loved that guy," he said.

He said her family wasn't sure who she was seeing when she took off during the week, but they pleaded with her to make better decisions and check in with them more often.

"I tried to do what I could for her, and keep her with us. But, she's an adult, she makes her own decisions."

Leialoha said the fact that the Honolulu Medical Examiner's office has yet to declare the cause of death has only added to the family's anxiety.

An autopsy was done Monday but the cause and manner of death have not been determined by the medical examiner's office, which needs to conduct more tests, said Susan Siu, the office's lead investigator.

"That's because there's no visible trauma," said HPD homicide detective Kathy Osmond. "No stab wounds, head injuries, bullets, anything that would give an immediate indication."

Osmond said police are seeking information from anyone who might have seen Pablico-Davis in Honolulu or on the North Shore in early December, particularly around Dec. 5, 6 or 7 — the period in which police suspect she died.

Pablico-Davis was reported missing on Dec. 10 and the next day her body was found by a worker at the University of Hawai'i's Waiale'e Livestock Research Farm near Sunset Beach, said Osmond.

Osmond said HPD's homicide detail is conducting the investigation because it automatically gets unattended death cases and also because Pablico-Davis' body was partially buried.

"It's definitely not something she did herself," she said.

Osmond described Pablico-Davis as a slim woman of caucasian/Japanese/Filipino descent, 5 feet tall and weighing 95 pounds. She had long brown hair, brown eyes and tan complexion and was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, short denim overalls and black slippers.