Ronald Kalilikane returned to Molokai to visit his grandmother and wound up hanging out with his lifelong friend, Parez “;Puna”; Kahikina, on Wednesday.

The two were killed Wednesday night in Hoolehua when they were thrown from the car they were riding in when it collided with another car.

A 31-year-old man in the second car was taken in critical condition to a Maui hospital.

“;They were best friends,”; said Kahikina's mother, Elizabeth Kahilikolo, 74, who said she was shocked to learn of her son's death. Kahilikolo, a Kalaupapa resident, spoke from the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, where she is recovering from leg surgery.

Kahilikolo also knew the 58-year-old Kalilikane, who had worked at Kalaupapa and recently retired and moved to Maui.

Kahikina, 51, moved from Honolulu to Hoolehua in 1993, and would often visit his mom and aunt in Kalaupapa, where he reunited with his childhood friend Kalilikane, staying with him while visiting Kalaupapa.

“;Puna was a good guy,”; said his cousin John Kelly. “;He helped a lot of people, give his time without any payment.

“;Now and then check on them to see if they needed any help,”; he said. “;That's the kind of person he was. He would help anybody out.”;