Police expand search for hit-and-run driver
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
New Year's Eve was a time of celebration for Julio Duque Jr.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
His wife and four children were back together on O'ahu after spending several months in the Philippines, and Julio celebrated at his Kailua home with a party for relatives and friends. As a special treat he served home-cooked crabs.
Lowella Duque, second left, pleaded for the public's help yesterday in finding the driver who hit and killed her husband, Julio, on Jan. 2. With her, from left, are son Julio III, 12; friend Fellioe Carag; son Joshua, 10; and daughter Jessica, 5.
Two days later, he was dead, struck down by a hit-and-run driver.
Since then, the family has been struggling, trying to put together their lives with their sole provider now gone, and trying to understand how someone could have left their father and husband dying without help on a wet roadside in 'Aiea.
Police yesterday said they are intensifying an islandwide search for the driver of a 1993 to 1995 gold Mazda MPV minivan believed responsible for the accident. If necessary, they said, they'll go "car-to-car-to-car" checking with every registered owner of a similar auto until they find the person responsible for Duque's death.
"We're just saying we want someone to help," Duque's wife, Lowella, said yesterday before breaking down in tears at a news conference at police headquarters.
Duque, 40, had parked his blue pickup truck on the side of Ka'amilo Street in 'Aiea about 5:15 p.m. Jan. 2 and apparently was stepping out the door when a car struck the truck from the rear. The car continued forward and hit Duque, pinning him beneath the truck.
Julio Duque Jr. lived most of his life on Maui and worked as a truck driver in the pineapple fields.
The driver fled the scene. Duque died a short time later at The Queen's Medical Center.
Police have opened a negligent homicide investigation into the case and say they believe they'll eventually find the driver, who left a large piece of the car's front grill behind, making it possible to identify the make and approximate year of the vehicle.
Investigators are contacting every auto body shop, new and used auto parts dealer, and junk yard on the island in hopes of locating the damaged vehicle or someone trying to replace the missing part. They also plan to obtain a list of all similar vehicles and contact their owners, said Detective Letha DeCaires of the department's CrimeStoppers program.
People with information about the minivan or the accident are asked to call police officer Val Chun of the Traffic Accident Investigation Section at 529-3526, or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular phone. Police say the suspect vehicle is a gold 1993 to 1995 Mazda MPV minivan. It is likely missing its front grill and has possible damage to its front right side, including the headlight.
"This case is particularly heartbreaking because the family has lost its only breadwinner. ... We're going to make every effort to find the person responsible," DeCaires said.
Information sought
Duque was born in the Philippines but moved as a child to Maui, where he lived most of his life and worked as a truck driver in the pineapple fields, according to his sister, Pricilla Manuel. Duque and his wife have four children, Jeffrey, 13; Julio III, 12; Joshua, 10; and Jessica, 5.
Last year, the family moved to the Philippines, but Julio soon returned, and the rest of the family joined him a few months later on O'ahu, Manuel said.
"He was so happy on New Year's Eve. He just wanted to spend the time cooking for his kids," Manuel said.
On Jan. 2, Duque finished work and then drove a friend to the bank and home. No one knows why he was stopped on the side of the road, Manuel said. Neighbors reported hearing a loud crash and found Duque trapped under his own truck.
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
