HONOLULU (KHON2) — A missing person’s case on the Big Island is now being investigated as a murder-suicide, according to Big Island police.
Officials said the 38-year-old Keaau woman was reported missing on May 21 by her boyfriend and was reportedly not seen for about a week.
The case took a turn just before 4 p.m. on May 23 when police executed a search warrant on a home in Keaau.
When the Area I Criminal Investigation Division members identified themselves, a loud “pop,” which resembled a gunshot, was heard from inside the home.
HPD said the Special Response and Crisis Negotiation Teams were activated due to the assumption that someone was armed and barricaded.
Officials entered the residence to find a deceased male who suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
In a final autopsy, the body was positively identified as the missing person’s boyfriend, a 38-year-old Keaau man.
After securing the scene, police found information that led them to check for the missing woman’s body on vacant, undeveloped land.
On May 23, HPD said police discovered the body in advanced stages of decomposition and recovered the remains the next morning, May 24.
A forensic pathologist performed an autopsy on the remains on May 31 and concluded the woman died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Police ruled the death as a homicide and later positively identified the body as the missing 38-year-old Keaau woman.
Anyone who may have information on the case is asked to call Big Island police at (808) 961-2381 or call island-wide Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300 to remain anonymous.