Untitled
July 24 2006
LANAI CITY – Police have opened up a murder-suicide investigation into the deaths of a 15-year-old girl and a 24-year-old man, both Lanai residents, found dead Saturday morning in a field.
The couple apparently had a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship but may have broken it off sometime before their deaths, according to Lt. Glenn Cuomo of the Maui Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division.
Police would not release the names of the two victims, pending notification of family members.
The two were reported missing to authorities by their families around 8:30 a.m. Friday, Cuomo said. A community search was launched, and the victims’ bodies were found at 7:50 a.m. Saturday in field No. 5311, approximately a half mile from the Lanai Police Station.
Four Maui police detectives and an evidence technician were immediately dispatched to Lanai to investigate, Cuomo said.
He said police were investigating whether the murder-suicide was connected with a July 16 arrest of a Lanai man for 14 counts of sexual assault against a minor.
Cuomo said police believe the teenage girl and the man each died by a single gunshot, but investigators want to wait for an autopsy report to confirm the cause of death. A firearm was found at the scene, but Cuomo would not identify the type of gun or speculate on who fired the weapon.
Cuomo said police have no witnesses.
The bodies were taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where autopsies were expected to be conducted.
Police confirmed that the girl was a student at Lanai High and Elementary School.
Lanai Principal Pierce Meyers said he started fielding calls about the incident Saturday morning.
He said he plans to meet with the police chaplain and other officials today on how to best help Lanai students and the community as a whole.
“We recognize the need for people who are grieving,” Meyers said.
An event could be held as early as Monday night, but Meyers could not provide details until he completed his discussions with authorities.
Lanai teachers were scheduled to return to the campus Tuesday for their first official day back to school. The first day of classes for students is July 31...
that girl was probably the only person in this known world that understood
me...but now shes gone...i cant give her name out for safety purposes
just pleez i beg of you people...pleez pray for her family and friends
WHERE MY CHRISTIANS AT...DROP TO YOUR KNEES AND PRAY
PLEASE...IM BEGGIN YOU...please
Police would not release the names of the two victims, pending notification of family members.
catelin
July 24 2006
