Police arrest 4 Honolulu police homicide detectives arrested four men yesterday and were looking for more suspects last night after finding the body of a murdered woman in a shallow grave in the mountains above Makakilo Wednesday.
after body found
A tip called in Tuesday led
police to the grave of a woman
missing since late JanuaryBy Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.comThe Honolulu medical examiner identified the remains earlier in the day as that of 37-year-old Tracey Tominaga of Kapahulu.
Tominaga was last seen on Jan. 20 and reported missing by her family on Jan. 25.
The cause of death was asphyxia due to suffocation and strangulation, according to the medical examiner.
"From day one we've been working this case as a possible homicide" because of the circumstances of Tominaga's disappearance, said Lt. Bill Kato, Honolulu Police Department Homicide Detail. The four suspects were arrested for murder, kidnapping and hindering prosecution, police said.
Tominaga was usually prompt in returning calls to her family but failed to return repeated calls and pages after Jan. 20, Kato said. She even failed to pick up her paycheck at a Waikiki hotel, he said.
Tominaga lived in Kapahulu with her boyfriend. But he went to prison a week before Tominaga's disappearance and did not know she was missing when he was contacted, Kato said.
On Tuesday, detectives received an anonymous tip of a grave site in the mountains above the homes in Makakilo.
Police determined that the tip was credible because the tipster gave detectives information they had discovered during their investigation, Kato said.
Detectives found the grave site past the end of Palehua Road on Tuesday afternoon and returned the next day to retrieve the body with technicians from the Army's Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii, a Honolulu Fire Department rescue company and HPD's Specialized Services Division.