Investigation opens
into death of woman,
40, in burned-out van

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By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

The body found in a burned-out van in Kunia yesterday is believed to be that of a 40-year-old Haleiwa woman, police said.

Her 41-year-old husband was the person who called 911 and alerted authorities to the fire, said Honolulu Police Department Lt. Bill Kato. "The guy said his wife was in the van," Kato said.

Kato said the man is an employee of Garst Seed Co. at 94-880 Kunia Road. The van and two nearby vehicles, an old bus and a pickup truck, that also burned were on a company farm lot.

Kato said the vehicles were close to one another.

The man told police he was somewhere else on the property when the vehicles caught fire. He said he and his wife sometimes sleep in the van to keep pigs away from the crop at night.

An HPD arson investigator has joined the Honolulu Fire Department to determine the cause of the fire. The case is classified as an unattended death pending the outcome of an autopsy.

"She's so badly burned, I don't know if the autopsy is going to be able to tell us anything," including the person's identity, Kato said. But he said the body matched the man's description of his wife.

The man was arrested for an outstanding traffic warrant and then released.

Firefighters received the fire alarm yesterday at 6:08 a.m. It took them 11 minutes to get to the scene because a downed utility pole had closed Kunia Road and because the vehicles were on a dirt road off the main roadway, said Roland Harvest, Waipahu Fire Station captain.