|
Lehua Tumbaga Indreginal, the mother of 11-year-old Kahealani Indreginal, had not slept in days but finally slipped into a peaceful sleep early Saturday morning, the day after a hiker had found her daughter's lifeless body in a wooded area off of Aiea Loop Trail.
A slain girl's family searches
Hundreds attend vigil
for peace as her sister's boyfriend
is held as a suspect
Suspect's mother in dark
Find 'divine intervention'By Sally Apgar
sapgar@starbulletin.com"I know she is OK because I felt her early this morning,'' said Indreginal as she sat yesterday afternoon in her living room, sifting through Kahealani's baby pictures four days after her daughter disappeared.
"She is in a better place and she is fine. I know. I felt her. And I heard her bracelets jingle. I called her name. Then I fell asleep."
Friday night at about 8:40, police arrested Christopher Clayburn Aki, 20, of Kalihi in connection with her slaying. Aki is the boyfriend of Kahealani's older sister, Tanya Mamala-Tumbaga.
At 12:35 a.m. yesterday police arrested a 31-year-old homeless man they picked up in Blaisdell Park in Pearl City. Police are looking for a possible third suspect. Police say the motive was robbery and the eight or nine gold Hawaiian bracelets that Kahealani always wore were not recovered at the scene or from any Oahu pawn shops. The gold Hawaiian necklace and earrings were left on the body, police said.
The pair had not been charged last night. An autopsy was to be conducted to determine the time and cause of death. Indreginal was found fully clothed in the beige corduroy pants and Roxy T-shirt she had worn to school. Police say she appeared to have fought back and appeared not to have been sexually assaulted.
At a press conference yesterday, Maj. Darryl Perry of the Honolulu Criminal Investigations Division said, "We want to assure the public that there isn't some crazy fiend out there abducting children.''
Perry said, "We will be relentless and uncompromising in our search for the truth in this case to bring closure for the family and justice for Kahealani."
Kahealani's father, Vincent Indreginal, said that his daughter knew Aki well enough to go somewhere with him and feel safe doing so. Aki was seen at the Puuwai Momi project in the days following the abduction playing with Kahealani's brothers and supporting Tanya when she pleaded before television cameras for her sister's safe return.
"How could Chris kill her? He knew her," said Kristine Kolish, 15, who lives in the project and knows Tanya. "I guess right now only Kahealani really knows who did this to her."
Kahealani's mother, who knew Aki was a suspect, said of her daughter's killers, "The Lord needs to touch sick people who need to be healed. He needs to soften their hearts."
She added, "The police told me to be patient. ... Everyone talks story now. I am waiting for the truth."
Kahealani, who friends say proudly wore five gold Hawaiian bracelets on her left arm and four on her right that were birthday gifts from her parents, was abducted Tuesday afternoon about 3 p.m. A straight-A student in the sixth-grade class at Aiea Elementary School who loved hula, Kahealani had walked home with friends and then bought snacks from a manapua truck. Her parents, who were visiting family in Waipahu, did not discover her disappearance until late Tuesday night and called police about 8 a.m. Wednesday, which triggered a massive hunt for the girl.
From the start, police acknowledged the prospects looked grim because she vanished from her busy neighborhood in minutes and was known as a child who would not willingly go somewhere with a stranger.
At a press conference yesterday, homicide Lt. Bill Kato said police "had a bad feeling about the case" from the moment Kahealani's parents notified them.
"People said she was there one minute and they looked away and the next minute she was gone. It happened so fast," said Kato.
Kato said they were able to make the arrests because of the help of the Indreginal's friends and neighbors. He said that after the shock of the abduction, many came forward as they remembered small details that were pieces to the puzzle to her disappearance.
After days of frantic searching by neighbors, police and trained dogs, her body was finally found by a hiker about 30 yards from a minor trail off a small parking lot in Aiea Loop.
Police are asking the public to report any incidents in the area of Aiea Loop Trail between 3 and 5 p.m. Tuesday. Police said someone might have noticed a girl screaming or running in a small side parking lot or any speeding cars. Late yesterday, police recovered a blue American car in Kalihi that they believe was used in the crime.
"What kind of a person robs an 11 year old?" said Cheyenne Letsi, 25, a cousin of Kahealani. "She's quiet and may look small and scroungy but she would fight back hard. I know she would. She is like her mother."
Kahealani's mother learned of the discovery of the body and the arrests from the media. Friday night she gathered her other children around in her photograph-filled living room and told them "your sister is in a wonderful place. She is an angel with wings."
Friends, family and neighbors made a makeshift memorial around the chain-link fence in front of the project. A large cardboard box had been slit to form a sign that read: "In Loving Memory ... Kahea." The sign was filled with handwritten messages from friends, family and neighbors. Her Aunty Kamaila wrote: "We will miss your sweet spirit. We'll look for you dancing hula in the clouds." Policemen and even strangers had left flowers ranging from yellow roses and baby's breath, to pink ginger and red heliconia. Candles on torches were lit and her picture hung from their stems. There were stuffed teddy bears and rabbits sitting against pails of flowers and glowing candles. Her best friend had decorated a Christmas tree with teddy bears and put it in a pail covered with a yellow and red hula skirt that Kahealani once wore.
Tatiana Cacatian, a 5-year-old cousin, thoughtfully smoothed her hand over messages written on the sign. The night before she had tried to comfort Kahealani's mother. "I told her not to be sad or to cry. Kahea is dancing with the angels in the sky."
A group of about five 11-year-old girls who knew the victim looked more somber yesterday.
"It's scary and sad that this happened to someone I knew and it happened here," said Monique Arrington, 11. "They wanted her bracelets. She always wore all of her jewelry all of the time. She was very proud of her bracelets."
Kahealani's mother, a slim woman with long hair who wears a gold necklace with a jade bead and eight gold Hawaiian beads for each of her children said "My kids are everything to me. But I can't cry every day."
Her father stood in the backyard yesterday with two of his younger children hugging his legs.
"The worst part is over," he said with a pained calmness in his soft brown eyes. "We found her. She is dead. But we found her. It was harder not knowing where she was.''
