Police have more tools than ever to solve missing person cases — GPS, cellphone records, electronic bank transactions and airline flight databanks have been used to solve disappearances.
Despite that, some people still vanish without a trace, leaving no paper trail or electronic footprint.
The family of Glynda Evangelista has been waiting for more than seven years for any information about what might have happened to her.
Evangelista was 68 years old when she was last seen on Monday, April 24, 2017, on the 500 block of Kilauea Avenue in downtown Hilo.
Evangelista would be 75 now, and police last month issued their sixth press release about her disappearance. In the seven years the Hilo woman has been missing, there have been no solid leads about her whereabouts — and police don’t know whether she’s alive or deceased.
“There’s no indication, either way,” said Capt. Rio Amon-Wilkins, commander of the East Hawaii Criminal Investigation Division. “We’re just putting it out there again, hoping for the best, hoping she’s alive, and hoping maybe someone knows something about her disappearance and will come forward with some information.”
Asked if Evangelista had the financial means to leave the island, Amon-Wilkins replied, “I do not believe so, and there’s been no indication that she left the island.”
Family members who have been waiting for closure for the better part of a decade include her son, Jeremie Evangelista, a Hawaii Police Department officer for 29 years who was promoted to the rank of major last month.
“We’re OK,” Evangelista told the Tribune-Herald on Monday when asked how his family is holding up. “The thing that strikes you is, this is an island. She was in downtown Hilo.
“How has anybody not seen or heard anything?”
Evangelista’s mother worked for decades as an X-ray technician.
“She was a great mom. She raised three kids and has six grandkids,” Maj. Evangelista said.
Important family milestones Glynda Evangelista has missed include “her sixth grandchild being born and her oldest grandchild getting married,” according to her son.
She also missed Jeremie Evangelista’s promotions to both captain and major.
Glynda Evangelista is considered an endangered missing person because of her age and because she has a physical condition that requires medication. According to Amon-Wilkins, her prescription hasn’t been filled since her disappearance.
According to Maj. Evangelista, his mother was living with a friend in Panaewa when she went missing. She had a driver’s license but no car, and was believed to be on foot when last seen.
Police want to protect her privacy and that of her family as much as possible, and declined to reveal what the condition requiring medication is. According to Maj. Evangelista, however, his mother “was not diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia” — conditions in which the patient sometimes wanders away without a trace.
There also has been “no evidence of foul play,” according to Amon-Wilkins.
“I think we would all just like to know where she’s at, wherever that is or however that is.” Maj. Evangelista said. “We all would just like to know where she’s at.”
At the time of the initial report, Glynda Evangelista was described as 5-foot-4-inches tall, about 200 pounds, with a medium build and short salt-and-pepper hair, hazel eyes, fair complexion, and prescription glasses.
She was last seen wearing a dark jacket and orange and yellow colored floral dress, carrying a blue backpack.
“This is still a missing person case,” Amon-Wilkins said. “And unfortunately, we have a few missing person cases still on the books in which the person has never been located.
“I have a detective who’s been reviewing all the missing person cases, just to make sure that we’ve crossed our ‘Ts’ and dotted our ‘Is’ and done all we could in order to locate these missing people.”
While he’s not a part of the investigation into his mother’s disappearance, his nearly three decades as an officer gives Maj. Evangelista knowledge of police procedures and methodology that most family members of missing people don’t have.
“The officers involved in the investigation, as far as I know and as far as I’m concerned, did everything that they were supposed to do,” he said. “The only thing I would say to the families that are in similar situations is, just know that your police department has done and is doing everything they can. They want these cases resolved, too, and I trust that.
“And I would beg that other people trust that, as well.”
Anyone with information on Glynda Evangelista’s disappearance and/or her whereabouts is asked to contact Amon-Wilkins at (808) 961-2251 or Rio.Amon-Wilkins@hawaiicounty.gov, or to call the police nonemergency line at (808) 935-3311.
Those who prefer anonymity may call Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300. Crime Stoppers is a volunteer program run by ordinary citizens who want to keep their community safe. Crime Stoppers doesn’t record calls or subscribe to caller ID. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.