Remains are thought
to be crash victim’s

Honolulu police say they believe the remains found in a wooded area near Likelike Highway this weekend are those of 38-year-old Evin Tam, who disappeared in August after a car accident.

Pig hunters found partial remains in a stream near the base of a small waterfall about 200 yards west of the highway and south of the Likelike Tunnel at about 8 a.m. Sunday.

Police were called and, with officials from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Honolulu Fire Department, found the rest of the remains in the same area.

Although the Honolulu Medical Examiner's office still needs to positively identify the remains, missing-persons investigators said yesterday morning they are likely those of Tam, who was last seen on Aug. 15 after the Honda van she was driving overturned on Likelike Highway near the Burmeister Overpass.

Tam's husband had said his wife had gone to visit his father's grave and that the flowers intended for the cemetery were found still in the van.

"She ran into the woods after that," said Detective Phil Camero. "Earlier, she had been showing signs of paranoia.

"The remains were that of a possible female or small-framed man. ... The last person to go missing in that area was Evin."

Tam's family members had said she had been acting strangely before the accident and was seen talking to herself. Police said she could have an undiagnosed mental illness and might also have suffered a head injury in the collision.

Camero said police found clothing along with the remains this weekend but no pieces of identification.

Tam was described as 5 feet 1 inch, 106 pounds, with a slim build, black neck-length hair and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a light-colored T-shirt, jeans and sandals.

Anyone with information on this case can call police Missing Persons Investigator Mary Aragones at 529-3064.