Police hold man wanted in tourist's death
Advertiser Staff
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Police tonight caught a man wanted in connection with the death of a tourist from New Mexico whose nude body was discovered Friday morning by a man as he jogged along the sands of Waikïkï Beach, in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
Police took into custody Aaron M. Susa, 31, who had been sought as a “person of interest” in the death of Bryanna Antone, 25, a college student.
Susa was taken to a hospital for treatment of an undisclosed medical condition, police spokesman Maj. Clayton Kau said, and police anticipated arresting Susa upon his discharge from the hospital.
Family members today remembered Antone as a woman who had appeared as an extra in an ABC Family Television series and planned to study cosmetology, hoping to one day work behind the scenes on television and movie sets.
She made her first trip to Hawaiçi last week to celebrate her 25th birthday and join her family at a dentists’ convention.
“We just celebrated her birthday, and she was really excited and very grateful to have a vacation with her mom and her brother and be with them,” said one of Antone’s many cousins in New Mexico, Tara Nolan, 24. “She’s been my best friend since we were really little girls.”
The Honolulu medical examiner’s office today released Antone’s identity but said the cause of her death was being deferred.
Kau said police found Susa in bushes near Lunalilo and Liholiho streets in Makiki about 8 p.m. after receiving a call about a suspicious man in the area. Susa complained of being ill and was taken to a hospital. Police were preparing to arrest him on two outstanding traffic warrants, Kau said.
Susa had been seen with Antone hours before her body was discovered. They were seen leaving the Waikïkï Ohana West hotel together about 1:40 a.m. Friday, Kau said.