Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History

Elmer Lee Stevens was one of the last people still listed as unaccounted for after the August 8, 2023 Lahaina fire. In this Beneath the Palms episode, we follow the verified record: the shrinking missing list, the search for Elmer, the loss of Tau Tala Tala Ponali, and the court process that followed when his family was left without remains or a final physical answer.

This is a fact-based Hawaii true crime and Lahaina wildfire aftermath story grounded in public reporting. It is also a story about family. Elmer’s six children were not only searching for their missing father. They were also grieving their mother, Tau Ponali, remembered in Lahaina as “Auntie Tala” or “Minister Tala.”

The episode also carefully addresses the unanswered space around Elmer’s disappearance without presenting rumor as fact. The known record shows no evidence that he left Maui, extensive searches produced no remains, and later court proceedings led to a legal declaration of death. What the fire took, it did not fully return.

Sources used in this episode:

Maui Wildfire Disaster Unaccounted For

Investigators spent months searching for a man unaccounted for in Lahaina fire. Now his 6 children are asking the court to declare him deceased

The Lives We Lost: Tau Ponali

Maui police release photos of 6 who remain ‘unaccounted for’ following wildfire

His Life In Lahaina Descended Into Homelessness, Then Death In Fire

Elmer Lee Stevens

Mahalo to Yoza for “Broken Wings.”

#ElmerLeeStevens #LahainaFire #Lahaina #MauiWildfires #MissingPerson #HawaiiTrueCrime #BeneathThePalms

Jacquelyn Glenn missing in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii: This episode examines the disappearance of 82-year-old Jacquelyn “Jackie” Glenn, last seen on December 5, 2025, on Nani Kailua Drive in Kona after reportedly mentioning a trip toward Hilo. The official record is spare. The silence around it is not.

In this episode of Beneath the Palms, we stay with the verified timeline first, then carefully separate the public unease that grew around Jackie’s disappearance. Where the record is thin, conflicting, or unconfirmed, that is said plainly. Nothing outside the verified lane is presented as fact.

If you have information in Jacquelyn Glenn’s case, contact the Hawaiʻi Police Department non-emergency line at 808-935-3311 and reference report number 25-111101.

Sources:
https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/police-seek-missing-elderly-kona-woman-jacquelyn-glenn/
https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/police-renew-request-for-information-on-missing-elderly-kona-woman-jacquelyn-glenn/
https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/police-renew-request-for-information-on-missing-elderly-kona-woman-jacquelyn-glenn-2/
https://bigislandnow.com/2025/12/10/police-in-search-of-missing-82-year-old-last-seen-in-kona/
https://bigislandnow.com/2026/01/05/hawaii-island-police-renew-request-for-help-finding-missing-elderly-kona-woman/
https://bigislandnow.com/2026/01/27/hawaii-island-police-renew-request-for-help-finding-missing-kupuna/
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/01/06/hawaii-island-asks-publics-assistance-finding-elderly-woman-jacquelyn-glenn/?outputType=amp
https://www.crimeonline.com/2025/12/18/bolo-homicide-investigation-launched-as-police-search-for-missing-hawaii-woman/
https://www.reddit.com/r/BigIsland/comments/1pjftpi/please_help_us_find_ms_jackie_glenn/

Additional public Facebook and Instagram community appeals were referenced only in the clearly separated public-commentary portion of the episode.

#JacquelynGlenn #MissingPerson #KailuaKona #BigIsland #HawaiiTrueCrime #BeneathThePalms

On this episode of Beneath the Palms: the McCully murder and Kapolei stabbing case, the Hawaii work furlough controversy, and the charges against John Nihipali Sr. after police say Georgia Ann Kapana was killed on Fern Street and his estranged wife was stabbed hours later on Oahu.

This story is built from police releases, court reporting, and local coverage. It follows the March 5, 2026 attacks, the alleged route from McCully to Kapolei, the work furlough and ankle-monitor questions that followed, and the court case that was still unresolved at the time this episode was written. Listener discretion is advised for domestic violence, fatal violence, and graphic injury.

If this episode hits close to home, please don’t carry it alone. If you have information, call 911 or CrimeStoppers at (808) 955-8300. If you need help in Hawaii, Domestic Violence Action Center offers support at (808) 531-3771, toll-free at (800) 690-6200, and by text at (605) 956-5680.

Sources:UPDATE – HPD Investigates Connection Between Two Oʻahu Stabbings; Suspect in Custody — https://www.honolulupd.org/update-hpd-investigates-connection-between-two-o%CA%BBahu-stabbings-suspect-in-custody/

HPD Investigating Attempted Murder in Kapolei — https://www.honolulupd.org/hpd-investigating-attempted-murder-in-kapolei/

Update – Suspect in McCully Murder and Kapolei Attempted Murder Charged — https://www.honolulupd.org/update-suspect-in-mccully-murder-and-kapolei-attempted-murder-charged/

Furloughed inmate charged in killing of girlfriend, stabbing of estranged wife — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/03/08/work-furlough-inmate-accused-killing-girlfriend-stabbing-estranged-wife-charged//

Furloughed inmate accused of killing girlfriend, stabbing estranged wife remains without bail — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/03/09/furloughed-inmate-accused-killing-girlfriend-stabbing-estranged-wife-remains-without-bail/

Furloughed inmate accused of killing girlfriend, stabbing ex-wife indicted for murder — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/03/11/furloughed-inmate-accused-killing-girlfriend-stabbing-ex-wife-indicted-murder/

Hearing moved after murder suspect refused to leave jail cell — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/03/20/hearing-moved-after-murder-suspect-refused-leave-jail-cell/

Thursday stabbing attacks leave one dead, one injured — https://alohastatedaily.com/2026/03/06/thursday-stabbing-attacks-leave-one-dead-one-injured/

Domestic Violence Action Center — https://domesticviolenceactioncenter.org/

#BeneathThePalms #HawaiiTrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #McCully #Kapolei #JohnNihipaliSr #DomesticViolenceAwareness

Jason Nam murder case. In this revisited Hawaii true crime episode, we examine the unsolved 2006 killing of 31-year-old Jason Nam, who was shot in broad daylight while washing his car outside his South Beretania Street apartment in Honolulu. Nearly two decades later, the case remains open, the suspects have never been publicly identified, and Jason’s family is still waiting for answers.

This episode stays with the verified record first: the stolen Nissan Maxima, the three masked men, the witness who saw part of one suspect’s face, the burned getaway car found later in Mililani, and the years of silence that turned this killing into one of Honolulu’s haunting unsolved murder cases. We also revisit the public rumors carefully and keep them separate from fact.

Jason was more than a cold case. He was a son, a brother, Sandra Pratt’s high school sweetheart, and a man with plans for a future that should have been much longer. If you know anything about the murder of Jason Nam, please contact Honolulu CrimeStoppers at (808) 955-8300.

Sources used in this episode:

Jason Nam — Honolulu Police Department
https://www.honolulupd.org/cold-case/jason-nam/

Shooting victim’s fiancee pleads for closure in case — Honolulu Star-Bulletin
https://archives.starbulletin.com/2006/04/10/news/story03.html

Motive, suspects prove elusive in Makiki slaying — The Honolulu Advertiser
https://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Apr/10/ln/FP604100337.html

Police, Family Still Searching for Answers in Murder — Hawaii News Now
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/4751124/police-family-still-searching-for-answers-in-murder/

Parents, police seek new leads in decade-old murder case — Hawaii News Now
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/31442386/parents-police-seek-new-leads-in-decade-old-murder-case/

#JasonNam #HonoluluColdCase #HawaiiTrueCrime #UnsolvedMurder #BeneathThePalms

Shanice Ogata-Staudinger disappeared in Pahoa on Hawaii Island on July 9, 2023, after going opihi picking near Hau Bush with a relative. She never returned to their prearranged meeting spot, and years later she still has not been found.

In this episode, we stay close to the verified record and to the silence around it. The public story begins with one stretch of coastline near Kahakai Boulevard and Papio Street, a missed meeting point, and a search by land, air, and sea that turned up nothing. But the deeper you go, the less this case feels like a simple shoreline disappearance and the more it feels like one of those absences that keeps pressing outward long after the first headlines fade.

Police renewed their call for information in September 2023, April 2024, and again in April 2025, saying they were still following up on tips and interviewing associates, friends, and family. Hawaii News Now also reported that Shanice was one of six especially concerning missing-person cases out of Puna as police said foul play was suspected in multiple open cases on Hawaii Island, while also stressing they did not believe all of those cases were connected.

If you have information about Shanice Ogata-Staudinger’s disappearance, Hawaii Police ask that you contact Detective Sybastian Keltner of the Area I Criminal Investigation Section at (808) 961-2378 or [email protected], or call the department’s non-emergency line at (808) 935-3311.

Sources used for this episode:

Hawaii Police Department — Police Continue Search for Pahoa Woman Missing Since 2023
https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/police-continue-search-for-pahoa-woman-missing-since-2023/

Hawaii Police Department — 4-08-24 Police Continue Search for Missing Pahoa Woman Shanice Ogata-Staudinger
https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/4-08-24-police-continue-search-for-missing-pahoa-woman-shanice-ogata-staudinger/

Hawaii Police Department — 9-29-23 Police Continue Search for Missing Pahoa Woman Shanice Ogata-Staudinger
https://www.hawaiipolice.com/9-29-23-police-continue-search-for-missing-pahoa-woman-shanice-ogata-staudinger

Hawaii Police Department — 5-11-23 Police Request Assistance Locating Wanted Individual in an Assault Investigation
https://www.hawaiipolice.com/5-11-23-police-request-assistance-locating-wanted-individual-in-an-assault-investigation

Hawaii Police Department — 5-18-23 (Update) Wanted Individual in an Assault Investigation Located
https://www.hawaiipolice.com/5-18-23-update-wanted-individual-in-an-assault-investigation-located

Big Island Now — Hawaii police searching for missing opihi picker in Pahoa
https://bigislandnow.com/2023/07/10/hawaii-police-searching-for-missing-opihi-picker-in-pahoa/

Big Island Now — Search continues for Pahoa woman reported missing while picking opihi at Hau Bush
https://bigislandnow.com/2023/07/11/search-continues-for-pahoa-woman-reported-missing-while-picking-opihi-at-hau-bush/

Big Island Now — Search ends for Pahoa woman reported missing on Sunday while picking opihi
https://bigislandnow.com/2023/07/13/search-ends-for-pahoa-woman-reported-missing-on-sunday-while-picking-opihi/

Big Island Now — Hawaii Island police continue to seek information related to Pahoa woman who went missing in 2023
https://bigislandnow.com/2025/04/27/hawaii-island-police-continue-to-seek-information-related-to-pahoa-woman-who-went-missing-in-2023/

Hawaii News Now — Search underway for missing opihi picker on Hawaii Island
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/07/10/hawaii-island-police-launch-missing-person-case-after-woman-fails-return-picking-opihi/

Hawaii News Now — Foul play may be involved in at least 6 missing persons cases on Hawaii Island
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/10/21/hawaii-island-police-suspect-foul-play-missing-persons-cases-nearly-double-last-year/

#ShaniceOgataStaudinger #MissingInHawaii #Pahoa #BigIsland #HawaiiTrueCrime #MissingPerson #UnsolvedMystery #BeneathThePalms

Legacy Episode 29 revisits the Hawaii cold case of Mary Sue Fink, the toddler identified through familial DNA after her remains were found in a galvanized steel can inside a Waikiki apartment closet in 2014. This Beneath the Palms episode follows the verified record, the murder investigation, the “Aunty” family story, and the long silence that kept Mary Sue’s name buried for decades.

This Legacy redo goes back through the case the way we always do: sharper writing, a harder fact check, and a cleaner line between what the public record proves and what still lives in rumor. If you follow Hawaii true crime, cold cases, missing children cases, forensic genealogy, or unsolved Honolulu murder cases, this episode is built for you.

Music credit:

“Broken Wings” by Yoza, used with permission.

Sources:

DNA test leads to identification of toddler in 1960 Oahu cold case murder — https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/01/15/dna-test-leads-identification-toddler-center-1960-oahu-cold-case-murder/

After a decade, Honolulu Jane Doe (2014) is now Identified — https://dnasolves.com/articles/mary-sue-fink-hawaii/

Young child’s remains identified 60 years later, but killer unknown — https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/01/16/hawaii-news/young-childs-remains-identified-60-years-later-but-killer-unknown/

Skeletal remains of girl born in 1959 identified a decade after bones found in Hawaii — https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-mary-sue-fink-dna/

#MarySueFink #HawaiiColdCase #BeneathThePalms #HonoluluTrueCrime

In 1893, on Kauai, Koʻolau refused forced exile to Molokai after officials moved to separate him from Piilani and their son, Kaleimanu. What followed in Kalalau Valley became one of Hawaii’s most haunting historical cases: the killing of Deputy Sheriff Louis Stolz, martial law, a government expedition, and a lasting fight over whether this story is best understood as resistance, tragedy, or both.

This episode of Beneath the Palms follows the documented record first, then the later public memory around Koʻolau, Piilani, Hansen’s disease, forced isolation, Kalalau Valley, and the story often called the Leper War on Kauai. At the center is not just a legend, but a family, a policy, and a voice—Piilani’s—that refused to let the story belong only to the state or to later retellings.

Sources:

The True Story of Kaluaikoolau: As Told by His Wife, Piilani — https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/the-true-story-of-kaluaikoolau-as-told-by-his-wife-piilani/?attribute_pa_format=paperback

An Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy, 1865 - Kalaupapa National Historical Park — https://www.nps.gov/kala/learn/historyculture/1865legislation.htm

The History of Hansen's Disease in Hawaii - Kalaupapa National Historical Park — https://www.nps.gov/kala/learn/historyculture/hansensdisease.htm

1893 Expedition to Gather Individuals with Hansen’s Disease – State of Hawaiʻi Department of Defense — https://dod.hawaii.gov/blog/1893-expedition-to-gather-individuals-with-hansens-disease/

Piilani, the Wife of Kaluaikoolau, 1916. | nupepa — https://nupepa-hawaii.com/2016/05/04/piilani-the-wife-of-kaluaikoolau-1916/

Continuation of Piilani’s story, 1916. | nupepa — https://nupepa-hawaii.com/2016/05/05/conclusion-to-piilanis-story-1916/

Ko‘olau and Pi‘ilani: A Leper and his Wife - Ka‘iwakīloumoku — https://kaiwakiloumoku.ksbe.edu/article/historical-snapshots-koolau-and-piilani-a-leper-and-his-wife

The Literary Offences of W. S. Merwin’s Folding Cliffs - Ka‘iwakīloumoku — https://kaiwakiloumoku.ksbe.edu/article/essays-the-literary-offences-of-w.-s.-merwins-folding-cliffs

#BeneathThePalms #Koolau #Piilani #Kalalau #KalalauValley #Kauai #HawaiiHistory #HawaiianHistory #HansenDisease #HistoryPodcast

In 1834, Scottish botanist David Douglas crossed Hawaii Island, climbed into the shadow of Mauna Kea, and died in a cattle pit beside a trapped bull. Officially, it was ruled an accident. But almost immediately, doubts formed around the scene, the injuries, the missing money, and the man who saw him last.

This episode follows Douglas’s final days on the Big Island, the recovery of his body, the examination in Hilo and Honolulu, and the long afterlife of suspicion that turned a nineteenth-century death into one of Hawaii’s strangest historical mysteries. The verified record stays separate from the later theory lane.

Sources:

https://www.kumupono.com/mauna-kea-final/

https://keolamagazine.com/then-now/the-mysterious-death-of-david-douglas/

https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/discovering-david-douglas

https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/perfect-companion

https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/douglas_david_6E.html

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kaluakauka-doctors-pit

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/zgzrft

#DavidDouglas #HawaiiHistory #BigIsland #MaunaKea #ColdCase #HistoricalMystery #ScottishBotanist #BeneathThePalms

Some stories never fade. In 1977, sixteen-year-old Dawn Momohara, a sophomore at McKinley High, was found murdered inside her own school. For nearly half a century, her case sat cold. Families carried the silence. A city carried the fear.

Then, in 2025, science caught up with the past. DNA pulled her name back into the headlines. A man was arrested—then released. Justice, almost within reach, slipped away once more.

This Legacy episode returns to Dawn’s story with more clarity, more depth, and the weight of everything that has happened since we first told it. It is a story about innocence, about silence, and about the fight to remember a girl who never got the chance to grow old.

This story was built on police files, court records, investigative journalism, and reporting from Hawaii’s local newsrooms who refused to let her case be forgotten. Every fact here stands on their shoulders.

If you have information that could help this case, contact Honolulu Police, or call CrimeStoppers at 808-955-8300. Even now, every detail matters.

Mahalo to Yoza, whose music carries us through every episode.

Because darkness may linger beneath the palms, but so does hope.

#BeneathThePalms #TrueCrimePodcast #HawaiiCrime #ColdCase #JusticeForDawn #McKinleyHigh #Hawaii

In 1978 on Oahu, public reporting describes Arthur K. Baker as a government informant. On November 13, 1978, reporting later describes him being taken from a Waikiki cocktail lounge on Kalakaua Avenue, driven west, and buried alive in the sand at Maili. Years later, the case is repeatedly summarized in news retrospectives because it wasn’t only a killing—it was a warning delivered through fear.

This episode contains factual reporting on kidnapping and homicide and includes disturbing details. Some language may be explicit. The story is reconstructed from documented reporting and publicly available case summaries; where the record is limited, unclear, or silent, I say so plainly and don’t fill in gaps. A clearly labeled Speculation Lane appears later and is not presented as fact.

If you’re on Spotify, tap Follow. Anywhere else you listen, follow the show there too—so you don’t miss what’s next.

And if you want to help in the simplest way—share this episode with someone who lived on Oahu in the late 1970s, especially someone who remembers Waikiki nights on Kalakaua, or the Waianae Coast, or Maili before it became a headline. Memory moves through people. Let it move. And if you have anything verifiable—archived reporting scans, court paperwork, microfilm pulls—send it in.

Mahalo to Yoza for the song “Obsession,” used for the show.

Sources referenced for this episode include archived Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporting and later retrospective coverage, Honolulu Advertiser retrospective reporting, and Hawaii News Now retrospective reporting on Ronald “Ronnie” Ching and the Arthur K. Baker case.

#BeneathThePalms #HawaiiTrueCrime #Oahu #Waikiki #KalakauaAvenue #Maili #Waianae #Honolulu #TrueCrimePodcast #HawaiiHistory #Informant #Kidnapping #Homicide #ColdCaseFiles #CrimeStory