After chaos, one
remains missingA couple was separated
By Christine Donnelly
in the landslide
Star-BulletinInjured, a 27-year-old California man made phone calls from the hospital trying to track down his missing girlfriend, who today was identified as Sarah Johnson.
The couple was near the Sacred Falls pool when the landslide began Sunday and were separated in the chaotic aftermath, fire officials said.
The man, whose name was not released, suffered a leg injury and was admitted to Castle Hospital, where he remained in stable condition last night.
Yesterday, he called Donna Maiava of the state Health Department who is on a team helping friends and relatives get information about victims, said health spokesman Patrick Johnston.
The missing woman was not on Maiava's lists. "So he told her he was going to check around on his own," Johnston said.
The boyfriend called back later, this time looking for more help, and Maiava told officials that not everyone was accounted for, after all.
The Fire Department had suspended its search at 10:20 a.m. because no one was reported missing, the area was hazardous, and sweeps had turned up nothing.
Upon hearing from Maiava, fire officials had police double-check all the hospitals and the morgue, said Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi. The check was complicated by the fact that the missing woman has the same surname -- Johnson -- as another woman confirmed dead.
The area where Johnson was last seen turned out to be near the place where the heaviest debris rained down, said Leonardi.
Search crews were ready to go back in about 2 p.m., but he decided it was too risky.
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Graduates of Chaminade University observed a moment
of silence in honor of Mark Johnson, who was to have
graduated with them last night but was
fatally injured at Sacred Falls.
Honor student loses
his battle for lifeMark Johnson and his
By Craig Gima
sister were both fatally
injured at Sacred Falls
Star-BulletinToday was supposed to be the beginning of a new life for Mark Johnson.
Newly discharged from the Navy, Johnson, 29, should have gotten his college degree with honors from Chaminade University in ceremonies last night at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.
His parents and his sister Jen, 24, had flown in from West Hills, Calif., north of Los Angeles, just to see him graduate.
Instead, his sister was killed in the landslide at Sacred Falls on Mother's Day and his parents spent the night at Johnson's bedside at Queen's Hospital.
This morning, Johnson died of his injuries, a Navy spokesman said. The hospital refused to confirm that.
"We're in shock. It shouldn't have happened on the day that basically his life started looking up," said Christine Soucy, a close friend who attended classes with Johnson at a satellite campus at Barbers Point Naval Air Station.
At the graduation ceremony last night, Chaminade University President Sue Wesselkamper made an announcement about Johnson and his sister. Kathy Agor, of the campus ministry office, led a prayer and offered a moment of silence for the family.
Soucy said when Johnson was younger, he didn't do well in school. But the military straightened him out and when he graduated he had a 4.0-grade point average in his majors of history and political science. She described him as quiet man -- tall, skinny and clean-cut. "Not knockout gorgeous," she said, but good-looking just the same.
Soucy said Johnson was happy to get out of the military where he served as a radioman first-class and wanted to take a breather before looking for work.
"He was thinking about settling down and having a family," she said.
Air Force loses
‘awesome’ man and
another’s sergeant’s childA Hickam first sergeant mourns
By Susan Kreifels
the deaths of a colleague and
the daughter of another friend
Star-BulletinAmong Hickam Air Force Base first sergeants, he was the top.
Master Sgt. Scott T. Huling, who died in the landslide at Sacred Falls on Sunday, was called an "awesome" man by a close friend and colleague.
"We looked up to him for advice," said Master Sgt. Tim Cathers, first sergeant for the 65th Airlift Squadron at Hickam.
"He had a great sense of humor. He was the best first sergeant on base. He served the people and served the country."
Huling, 36, was named the Air Force's top first sergeant of the year in Hawaii in 1997 and was also president of the Air Force Hawaii First Sergeants Association, Cathers said yesterday.
Huling, from Tennessee and the father of three sons, "was a good friend and a good man," Cathers said.
Cathers also was close to Staff Sgt. Anselmo Desaavedra of the 25th Air Support Operations Squadron at Wheeler Army Air Field. Desaavedra's daughter, Danielle Williams, 7, also died Sunday.
Until last September, Cathers was first sergeant of Desaavedra, who was named airman of the year here in 1997, Cathers said.
Both Desaavedra and Huling, who was assigned to Hickam's 15th Air Base Wing Security Force, had been hiking at Sacred Falls with their families.
Huling's wife and one son remain hospitalized, Cathers said. Two other sons had minor injuries and were released, he said.
Also hospitalized were Desaavedra's wife, April, and son, Cathers said.
As first sergeant, Huling, in the Air Force for 16 years, was in charge of the morale, health and welfare of the enlisted people in his unit and their families.
Huling, who was an active golfer, often hiked and went to the beach with his family, Cathers said. He was working on a bachelor's degree in human resources development at Hawaii Pacific University.
Huling and his family, who live on base, have been in Hawaii for two years, Cathers said.
Cathers called Desaavedra and Huling "two of our best. We in the Air Force have a great loss."
Family joy
turns to griefParents fly to Hawaii for son's
By Craig Gima
graduation, instead lose 2 children
Star-BulletinWhen the rocks started falling at Sacred Falls, Aaron Bann's first instinct was to protect his wife, Bann's grandmother said today.
"He saved his wife's life there," said Shirley Berko. "When the boulders started coming down, he covered her with his body," she said, relating details from Bann's wife, Cindy, and received through his father.
Bann, 31, was killed in the landslide on Mother's Day. His wife was injured and is among those still hospitalized.
Bann was described as a "wonderful man" and good neighbor with a ready smile.
Berko said Bann had just graduated with a master's degree in business administration from Claremont Colleges and was in Hawaii for a celebration with friends.
Bann worked as a property manager and was the father of a daughter who will be 2 in June. He lived in a townhouse complex in Placentia, Calif.
"We're all very upset" neighbor Jay Stoegbauer told the Los Angeles Times.
"He seemed like an incredibly happy man. He was always friendly and always happy. We shared an interest in sports cars and we'd chat often about our cars."
"It's tragic. We're definitely going to miss his smile."
