KAILUA-KONA — A man and woman were found dead inside an Alii Lani apartment Friday morning after a neighbor performed a welfare check and discovered their bodies in the bedroom.
The Hawaii Police Department is investigating the deaths and couldn’t comment whether foul play was suspected. An autopsy will be conducted next week to determine the exact cause of the deaths.
“We are not leaning towards a suspect being out there at this time, but we are investigating all aspects,” said Maj. Robert Wagner.
Police are not releasing the names of the deceased until next of kin are notified.
News about the deaths stunned neighbors, who described the two as a couple pleasant to be around. They identified the couple by name but West Hawaii Today is also withholding identify pending the investigation.
“They were great people,” said Beth McAdams, who lives directly across from the couple’s second-story apartment.
McAdams and Paul Whitehouse watched from their yard as police worked inside the caution tape that roped off their neighbor’s yard.
“I’m kind of numb from the whole thing,” Whitehouse said. “A deep sadness.”
Officers arrived at the Alii complex at 9:49 a.m. after a neighbor performed a welfare check.
Neighbor Susan Olson said she grew uneasy after having not seen her neighbors for four days despite their vehicles being parked in the parking lot. On Thursday night, she walked by the couple’s apartment in the F building and heard a cat inside crying loudly. On Friday morning, she walked by again and the cat was howling louder. She also noticed a powerful stench through the door.
Olson had a key to the apartment on the 75-6000 block of Alii Drive as well as the phone number of the woman’s mother. She called the mother, who told Olson to go inside to check on her 48-year-old daughter. The man, Olson said, was 55.
“So I went in, and knocked on the bedroom and, oh my god,” an emotional Olson said recounting where she discovered the lifeless bodies on the bed. “You can’t erase that. I’m just in shock.”
She said the married couple, who were private, separated for a time, but recently reunited. She said the woman was a talented dancer who belonged to a halau and was a lifeguard at Magic Sands. The county Parks and Recreation Department’s Aquatics Division declined comment pending the investigation.
Anyone who might have information about this incident is asked to call the police nonemergency line at 935-3311 or contact Detective Dominic Uyetake at 326-4646, ext. 228, or dominic.uyetake@hawaiicounty.gov.
“They were both fun,” Olson said. “And they both had intense interest in the Hawaiian culture.”
“They were both good people,” she added. “You can’t judge.”