Big Island police are searching for a 39-year-old Hilo woman reported missing since Feb. 26. Hilo woman reported missing ADVERTISING Big Island police are searching for a 39-year-old Hilo woman reported missing since Feb. 26. Eliza Varios is described as
Hilo woman
reported missing
Big Island police are searching for a 39-year-old Hilo woman reported missing since Feb. 26.
Eliza Varios is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 168 pounds with brown eyes and shoulder-length black hair, according to the Hawaii Police Department. She may be with 46-year-old Honorato Pardua, also of Hilo, and they may be on the island of Kauai.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts should call the department’s nonemergency line at 935-3311. Those who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 329-8181 in Kona or 961-8300 in Hilo. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.
Police: Montana visitor suffered cardiac arrest
An autopsy conducted last week determined that a 68-year-old Montana man found floating in waters off Kahaluu Beach Park in North Kona died of cardiac arrest, according to the Hawaii Police Department.
Edward Woyciehowicz of Missoula, Mont., was found floating in the bay on April 10 by a Hawaii County lifeguard. He was taken to Kona Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Kapumau located
Big Island police have located an 18-year-old Keaau man who was reported missing.
Daniel P. Kapumau was found Saturday in Puna, according to the Hawaii Police Department.
Police arrest 23
for suspected DUI
Police arrested 23 drivers for suspected drunken driving between April 9 and Sunday; four were involved in traffic accidents and two were younger than 21.
Police have made 419 suspected DUI arrests this year compared with 398 during the same period in 2011, according to the Hawaii Police Department.
Kona officers arrested 11 motorists, South Hilo nine and Puna two. Ka’u officers arrested one motorist.
There have been 432 major accidents this year compared with 411 during the same period last year.
To date, there have been 11 traffic fatalities on Big Island public roadways, compared with eight fatalities during the same period in 2011, according to police.
Not guilty plea in federal tax refund case
A 60-year-old Big Island woman accused of claiming false tax refunds pleaded not guilty on Monday to six counts of making a false claim against the United States in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.
Sherilyn K. Wahinekapu was indicted April 12 by a federal grand jury on six counts of making a false claim to the government, according to U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni. She is accused of filing six returns with the Internal Revenue Service between 2008 and 2009 that fraudulently claimed tax returns ranging from $40,941 to $1.6 million.
She is slated to go on trial June 13, according to Nakakuni.
The indictment alleges that Wahinekapu knew the refunds were fraudulent because they were based on false information related to interest income and income tax withholdings, according to Nakakuni.
Each charge of making a false claim against the U.S. carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to Nakakuni.
Akaka doing well
after dehydration
HONOLULU — A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii says he’s doing well after being diagnosed with dehydration.
Spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke says Akaka is expected back at work Wednesday after his family took him to see a doctor on Saturday. He was diagnosed with dehydration and cleared to fly from Honolulu, where he had been for the past two weeks holding field hearings while the Senate was in recess. Akaka and his wife arrived in Washington, D.C. Tuesday.
The 87-year-old Democrat will be retiring when his term ends this year.
By local and wire sources