Lack of ID in The parents of a teenager killed in a crash while fleeing police in a stolen car early last Wednesday in Waikele say they did not learn of his death until two days after the accident.
fatal crash leaves
parents in dark
Jeremy Purganan's parents
didn't find out about his death
until 2 days laterBy Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com"I couldn't believe it, because nobody called," Mercy Purganan said.
Nobody called because the Honolulu Medical Examiner had no clue of the teenager's identity. Jeremy was not carrying any identification.
Jeremy Purganan, 17, died when the stolen car he was driving slammed into a light pole during a high-speed chase with police on Pulelo Street off Lumiaina Street.
The medical examiner had the victim's fingerprints but could not submit them to Honolulu police for comparison with fingerprints on file in their computer without a name.
Purganan said her first inkling that something might be wrong was when her son's friends called her house at midnight Wednesday asking her if police had been to the house, without explaining why.She said her son lived in Ewa with his grandparents, who also were wondering why they had not seen Jeremy since Tuesday. Purganan said Jeremy's cousins assured the grandparents that Jeremy was with his friends.
When Jeremy's friends called again on Thursday, "still we couldn't believe it," she said, even after reading about the accident in the paper, because nobody called.
Friday morning, after still not hearing from Jeremy, they were in a panic. She said her husband called a 911 operator, who eventually directed them to the medical examiner.
They arranged for a viewing later that day after her husband described Jeremy's bleach-blond hair and the tattoos on his back.
They identified him Friday afternoon.