Advice to exercisers:
Stay alert

The hunt continues for a woman
walker missing since Monday

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

Bongak "Jackie" Koja regularly left her Wahiawa Heights home at 3 a.m. for a daily walk down California Avenue to the Hongwanji Mission across the street from Fred Wright Park.

She never returned from her walk Monday, and police believe Koja was attacked near Leilehua High School.

Very few people in the area are out exercising before sunrise.

"Even if you're out at 5 a.m., you've got to be careful and take nothing for granted," said Wahiawa resident Dennis Higa, who takes a 90-minute walk daily.

Since Monday, Higa says, he has been extra careful.

"I thought this was a safe neighborhood," he said.

"The main drag (California Avenue) is not really that deserted, so I don't know if this was a random attack or she was targeted.

"But if I see somebody from a distance, I begin paying attention," he added. "You've got to be alert all the time."

Ethel Yanagida and two other women from her Wahiawa neighborhood take their walks before 6 a.m.

"I try to be very cautious, paying attention to noises around me," Yanagida said. "That's why I don't listen to a radio when I'm walking. I want to be able to hear everything.

"Being out at 3 a.m. alone is too early," she added. "It's safer anytime to walk with a group."

Manoa resident Sid Townsley enjoys jogging at 3 in the morning.

"I like it because there's little or no traffic, it's cool and it starts the day for me, since I'm any early riser," Townsley said. "But I stay alert and I always carry an identification card with me.

"I've been mugged before but not while jogging," he added. "A friend of mine was recently accosted in the park during an early morning walk. You always have to be alert to what is around you.

"If I see someone, I usually go a different way," Townsley said.

Officer Bayard Doane of the Police Department's Informational Resource Section advises predawn joggers and walkers to use their sight, hearing, touch and smell as tools of awareness.

"Never volunteer to get into trouble," he said. "When something bad occurs, a typical response is 'I didn't think it could happen here.'

"Always be aware of the things around you. If possible, people should try to avoid a set routine."

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Search continues for wife
missing since early walk

By Star-Bulletin staff

Screams were heard early Monday on California Avenue, and several hours later, a large amount of blood was found on the Leilehua High School campus.

Neither incident was immediately reported to police, who are continuing their search for a missing 59-year-old Wahiawa woman who never returned home Monday from her daily predawn walk.

Bongak "Jackie" Koja's headphones and her pepper-spray canister were found in a trash can at a California Avenue bus stop fronting the high school.

Her eyeglasses were discovered on the school's front lawn, damaged possibly by a lawnmower.

School custodians reported cleaning up large pools of blood near a classroom Monday.

By using Luminol, a chemical that detects the presence of blood, police developed the theory that someone who was bleeding was dragged from the bus stop area to the school.

Investigators have ruled out a hit-and-run accident.

Police dogs were used yesterday to search Wahiawa Botanical Garden, while others searched large rubbish bins in the area.

Anyone who may have noticed anything suspicious on California Avenue between 3 and 4 a.m. Monday is asked to call 911 or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.

Always play it safe

Police give these tips when exercising outdoors at night or in the early morning:

Stay in well-lighted areas.

Avoid shortcuts through alleys, vacant lots, construction sites, groves of trees and shrubbery.

Walk down the middle of the sidewalk against the flow of vehicular traffic.

Stay away from parked cars, doorways, staircases, entrances to alleys, hedges and shrubs or other potential hiding places.

Be alert and give the impression you know where you're going.

If stopped by someone in a car, always reply from a distance and avoid getting close to the car.

If you feel that you're being followed, cross the street and get to the nearest place of safety.

Vary your daily routine for jogging or walking.

Carry identification but not valuables.