LIHUE, Kauai — Kauai police are investigating the murder of a 37-year-old Kapaa man who was found dead in a quiet, rural area of east-central Kauai early Monday.

Someone reported finding the body of Daniel Buonanno in a car on an unnamed dirt road commonly called "Loop Road" near the end of Kuamoo Road in the Wailua Homesteads at 7:33 a.m. Monday.

Police on Monday had originally classified the case as an unattended death. But after an autopsy was performed yesterday, the case was reclassified as a homicide.

Police said Buonanno's body had "apparent injuries" but have not disclosed the cause of death, time of death or a description of the vehicle in which he was found.

Kuamoo Road runs more than six miles directly inland and mauka from Kuhio Highway, the main highway along Kauai's east coast. Kuamoo Road dead-ends at the Keahua Forestry Arboretum, near the trailhead for Kuilau Ridge Trail, which is frequently used by pig hunters and hikers.

Multiple sirens just after 7:30 a.m. Monday set neighborhood dogs howling.

Ken DaVico, who lives in the nearby Wailua Rise housing subdivision, said the report of a homicide a few miles up the road was unwelcome news.

"You've certainly got to be concerned when something like that happens," DaVico said. "I jog and walk up that road and a lot of people do."

The uninhabited last few miles of Kuamoo Road has something "of a reputation for drug deals," DaVico said. "But I've never seen anything."

John Gordines, who works at the nearby Kauai Agricultural Research Center on Kuamoo Road, said he also has heard allegations of drug deals in the higher elevations of Kuamoo Road.

"I think the area should be policed more often," Gordines said. "Obviously I'm concerned."

Anyone with information about any occurrence on Loop Road Sunday night or early Monday is urged to call Kauai Police Detective James Kurasaki at 246-8101, police dispatch at 241-1711 or Crime Stoppers at 241-1887.