According to police, a man in his 40s whose body was found Monday morning on a remote unpaved road in Eden Roc subdivision was the victim of foul play.
“The autopsy ruled that it was a homicide, and we’re chasing leads,” Lt. Rio Amon-Wilkins of the Hilo Criminal Investigations Section said Wednesday.
According to Amon-Wilkins, the pathologist who performed the autopsy Tuesday said the man died of “multiple blunt-force trauma.”
Police have not yet released the identity of the victim, pending notification of next of kin.
The area where the body was found is closed to the intersection of Kahikopele Street and Ohia Avenue, and Amon-Wilkins said the victim was an Eden Roc resident. He said detectives think the body was dumped at the site where it was found, and the homicide took place elsewhere.
According to Amon-Wilkins the man apparently was killed within the 12 hours prior to the discovery of his body.
No suspect has yet been identified, Amon-Wilkins said.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Detective Scotty Aloy at 961-2375 or scotty.aloy@hawaiicounty.gov.
Those who prefer anonymity can call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.
In addition, an unrelated incident early Friday morning in Mountain View that resulted in a 25-year-old man and 18-year-old woman being taken to Hilo Medical Center with gunshot wounds was “a domestic incident,” Amon-Wilkins said.
Amon-Wilkins described the incident, which took place inside a vehicle, as “a struggle for the gun which ended up with both of them being shot.”
According to Amon-Wilkins, the shooting “does appear to be accidental,” and both gunshot victims required surgery for non-life-threatening injuries to their arms.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.