Posted on: Monday, April 25, 2005

Second body found on Maui

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hikers on Maui discovered the body of a man Saturday in Ha'iku, and police say they believe he was the housemate of a woman whose body was found six days earlier.

The bodies were found within a mile of each other.

There was "no obvious indication of foul play" in the deaths of the man or the woman, Maui County police said. Police have classified the case as a miscellaneous accident.

An autopsy will be performed today or tomorrow on the man's body, which was recovered from the rocky coastline near Holokai Road.

Police said the bodies are believed to be that of a 31-year-old man and 20-year-old woman who lived together in Kahului.

Their names were not released pending identification and notification of next of kin, said Lt. Glenn Cuomo of the Maui police Criminal Investigation Division.

The woman's body was found April 17 at the bottom of a cliff near Manawai Place in Ha'iku. Police said she had been dead at least several days before area residents discovered her body.

An autopsy performed Tuesday revealed she had a fractured left ankle and four fractured ribs, police said. The injuries are consistent with an accident, police said, but the autopsy did not immediately determine the cause of death.

The woman was 5 feet 5 with medium-length brown hair. Several teeth had been extracted from her lower jaw, and she had a metal rod in her right leg from a past medical procedure and a long scar over her right thigh. Police said she may have walked with a slight limp. She was wearing a brown tank top, blue denim shorts, and a yellow metal ring with three stones on her left ring finger.

Police had asked that anyone with information about the woman's case call police at (808) 244-6425.

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.