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

In this Hawaii true crime episode of Beneath the Palms, we revisit the unsolved murder of Bradley Bussewitz, a 47-year-old Wisconsin man whose body was found near the 12-mile marker off Saddle Road on Hawaiʻi Island in 2003.

For nearly thirteen years, police and the public did not know his name. He was first known only as an unidentified man found in a remote area outside Hilo, with severe blunt-force injuries and no identification. In 2016, fingerprint technology finally gave him back his name: Bradley Elmer Bussewitz, also known as Bradley Adair.

But identification was not justice.

Bradley had moved through Wisconsin, California, Maui, and the Big Island, living lightly and close to the land. Public records describe him as someone who grew his own food, lived as a vegetarian, played the didgeridoo, and moved through Hawaiʻi with a van, a bicycle, and a dream of simple self-sufficiency.

This episode follows the verified record: the November 2, 2003 discovery near Saddle Road, the murder investigation that followed, the public appeals about a possible hitchhiker and a possible witness, the 2016 identification, and the unanswered question that remains at the center of the case.

Who killed Bradley Bussewitz?

If you know anything about Bradley, or if those last days of October 2003 stir a memory, contact the Hawaiʻi Police Department’s Unsolved Homicides Division at 808-961-2380, or Crime Stoppers at 808-961-8300.

Sources:

Bradley Bussewitz Murder (H-69230) – Hawaiʻi Police Department

https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/bradley-bussewitz-murder-h-69230/

Unidentified body discovered 11-03-03 – Hawaiʻi Police Department

https://www.hawaiipolice.com/unidentified-body-discovered-11-03-03

Police initiate murder investigation 11-04-03 – Hawaiʻi Police Department

https://www.hawaiipolice.com/police-initiate-murder-investigation-11-04-03

07-08-16 2003 murder victim identified (update with new photo) – Hawaiʻi Police Department

https://www.hawaiipolice.com/07-08-16-2003-murder-victim-identified-update-with-new-photo

Body found in 2003 ID’d – Hawaii Tribune-Herald

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2016/07/08/hawaii-news/body-found-in-2003-idd/

After more than a decade, new tech helps identify Big Island murder victim – Hawaii News Now

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/32397898/after-more-than-a-decade-new-tech-helps-identify-big-island-murder-victim/

Hawaii’s Unsolved Murders: Who killed Bradley Bussewitz? – KHON2 News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBxooTsHD0w

Bradley Bussewitz – Unidentified Wiki

https://unidentified-awareness.fandom.com/wiki/Bradley_Bussewitz

Mahalo to every source that helped keep Bradley’s name in the public record. A special mahalo to Yoza for “Broken Wings.” You can find her on Instagram at @yozamusic and at yozamusic.com.

Follow Beneath the Palms for more Hawaii true crime, unsolved murders, cold cases, missing person stories, and mysteries from across the islands.

Darkness may linger beneath the palms, but so does hope.

#BeneathThePalms #HawaiiTrueCrime #BradleyBussewitz #SaddleRoad #Hilo #BigIsland #UnsolvedMurder #ColdCase #HawaiiColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #UnsolvedHomicide #HawaiiPodcast

In 1987, twenty-six-year-old Lynn Ebisuzaki left a friend’s home in Hilo and never made it back. Hours later, her car was found burned on a remote road, and her body was discovered nearby. Decades have passed, but the person responsible for her murder has never been found. This episode revisits her story, the town that still remembers, and the silence that continues to haunt Hawaii’s Big Island.

Sources:

• Hawaii Tribune-Herald archives (1987–1988 coverage)

• Honolulu Advertiser reports

• Hawaii County Police Department public cold case files

• Historical research on late-1980s Hilo investigations and community responses

Special Thanks:
A mahalo to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald and Honolulu Advertiser for their archived reporting, and to Hawaii County Police for preserving open case records that help keep Lynn’s story alive.
A special mahalo to Yoza for her song Obsession—the sound that carries us through these shadows. Find her on Instagram @yozamusic and at yozamusic.com.

If you have any information about the murder of Lynn Ebisuzaki, contact Hawaii County Police at (808) 935-3311 or CrimeStoppers at (808) 961-8300. Anonymous tips can be submitted at hawaiicrimestoppers.net.

#BeneathThePalms #TrueCrimeHawaii #LynnEbisuzaki #Hilo #HawaiiColdCase #UnsolvedMurder #CrimePodcast #HawaiiTrueCrime #MissingJustice #AkuBoneMedia #SoDoesHope

In 1973, Gayle Irene Hook told her roommates she was going to the beach in South Kona. She was young, far from home, living without a car in a time when hitchhiking still felt ordinary. Eight days later, students found her body inside the abandoned Kahikolu Church pavilion in Nāpōʻopoʻo.

This fully revisited episode of Beneath the Palms follows the corrected record of Gayle’s unsolved murder: her move from Washington to Hawaii, the beach community around Nāpōʻopoʻo, the early investigation, the attempted-assault lead police examined carefully, the later DNA hopes, and the family grief that never ended.

This is not the old shoreline version of the story. Gayle was not found on the beach. She was found in an abandoned church pavilion, and police later believed the killing may have happened somewhere else before her body was left there.

If you know anything about Gayle Hook’s murder, contact Hawaii Police. The current cold case record lists the Unsolved Homicides Division at 808-961-2380, and tips may also be made through Crime Stoppers at 808-961-8300. KHON2 also listed [email protected] for information connected to this case.

Mahalo to Yoza for the use of “Broken Wings.” Find Yoza on Instagram at @yozamusic and online at yozamusic.com.

Sources:

Hawaii Police Department: Gayle Hook Murder (A-71462)

Hawaii Police Department Media Archives: Detectives re-evaluate 40-year-old cold case 09-03-13

Hawaii News Now: Police seek help solving 40-year-old Big Island murder

KHON2 / Hawaii’s Unsolved Murders: Who killed Gayle Hook?

Hawaii Police Department: Unsolved Homicides

Hawaii Tribune-Herald archive: Dead Woman Found At Napoopoo; May Have Been Shot, April 8, 1973 — archival clipping reviewed via Newspapers.com

Hawaii Tribune-Herald archive: Discoverer Of Body Is Not A “Transient,” April 9, 1973 — archival clipping reviewed via Newspapers.com

Hawaii Tribune-Herald archive: Police Lack Solid Leads In Slaying Of Girl In Kona, April 11, 1973 — archival clipping reviewed via Newspapers.com

Honolulu Star-Bulletin archive: April 1973 Gayle Hook coverage — archival clipping reviewed via Newspapers.com

Public social media recollection from Big Island Hawaii - All things Big Island! Facebook group, treated as unverified personal memory

#BeneathThePalms #GayleHook #HawaiiTrueCrime #SouthKona #Napoopoo #Kealakekua #BigIslandHawaii #UnsolvedMurder #ColdCase #HawaiiColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #HawaiiPodcast #RevisitedEpisode #Yoza #BrokenWings

Father Yod and the Source Family are one of the strangest chapters in 1970s cult history, Los Angeles counterculture, psychedelic rock, and Hawaii’s search for paradise gone wrong.

This fully revisited episode follows James Edward Baker, the former Marine and Hollywood restaurateur who became Father Yod, leader of the Source Family and founder of The Source restaurant on the Sunset Strip. What began as raw vegetarian food, spiritual searching, music, and communal living grew into a closed world shaped by devotion, control, young followers, multiple wives, and one man’s claim to higher truth.

When pressure built in Los Angeles, the family moved to Hawaii chasing a new Eden. Instead, they met island suspicion, unstable housing, financial pressure, internal doubt, and the hard reality that paradise was never theirs to claim. From Kauai to Hilo to Lanikai, the dream narrowed until August 25, 1975, when Father Yod attempted to hang glide from Oahu’s east side without proper training. His crash and death left the family fractured, grieving, and forced to ask what had been faith, what had been love, and what had been control.

This episode is not just about a cult leader. It is about the people who followed him, the women asked to call surrender holy, the children raised inside someone else’s spiritual experiment, and the survivors who still carry complicated memories of harm, belonging, music, and loss.

Sources:

The Source Family - https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-source-family/umc.cmc.4j7xoh2o76h6lwfbfcb2slo0a

The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13, and The Source Family - https://openlibrary.org/books/OL8586689M/The_Source

The Living Projects - https://fluxhawaii.com/jim-baker-jaime-gomez-reyji-hawaii-cults-communities/

The surprising afterlife of a ’70s L.A. cult: How the Source Family became hot IP in 2023 - https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2023-04-12/source-family-cult-l-a-father-yod-mark-ruffalo-rick-rubin-vegetarian-restaurant

‘The Source Family’ documentary draws an L.A. crowd - https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2013-may-15-la-et-mn-source-family-documentary-20130511-story.html

Taylor Camp: Through the eyes of the locals - https://www.thegardenisland.com/2019/11/29/entertainment/taylor-camp-through-the-eyes-of-the-locals/

Father Yod: the 1970s cult leader whose wild psychedelia was more suited to Disneyland than dive bars - https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/dec/21/father-yod-the-1970s-cult-leader-whose-wild-psychedelia-was-more-suited-to-disneyland-than-dive-bars

Mahalo to Yoza for the song “Broken Wings.” Find Yoza on Instagram at @yozamusic and at yozamusic.com.

#FatherYod #SourceFamily #TheSourceFamily #HawaiiCult #HawaiiTrueCrime #BeneathThePalms #CultHistory #LosAngelesCult #TheSourceRestaurant #YaHoWha13 #Lanikai #Kauai #Oahu #TrueCrimePodcast #PodcastEpisode #BrokenWings #Yoza

In July 2021, 76-year-old Michael Rosenbaum disappeared from Pahoa. Nine days later, a fisherman spotted a body below the lava cliffs at MacKenzie State Recreation Area. It wasn’t an accident. He’d been shot.

Four years on, the case is still open. No arrests. No suspects named. We trace the timeline, the gaps, and the silence that still hangs over Puna—and we ask for the one detail that could turn this into justice.

Know something? Call Hawaii Island CrimeStoppers at (808) 961-8300. You can remain anonymous.

Sources

• Hawaii Police Department – “Police Seek Leads in July 2021 Puna Murder” (June 30, 2025): https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/police-seek-leads-in-july-2021-puna-murder

• Hawaii News Now – “Hawaii Island police seek leads in 2021 unsolved murder” (June 30, 2025): https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/07/01/hawaii-island-police-seek-leads-2021-unsolved-murder/

• Big Island Now – “Police seek leads regarding an unsolved murder…” (June 30, 2025): https://bigislandnow.com/2025/06/30/police-seek-leads-regarding-an-unsolved-murder-from-nearly-four-years-ago/

• HPD Media Release (Nov 14, 2023): https://www.hawaiipolice.com/11-14-23-police-renew-request-for-leads-in-july-2021-murder-of-elderly-puna-man

• Big Island Video News (Jul 17, 2023): https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2023/07/17/police-seeking-leads-in-july-2021-murder-of-michael-rosenbaum/

#BeneathThePalms #Hawaii #Puna #Pahoa #BigIsland #MacKenzie #ColdCase #UnsolvedMurder #TrueCrime #CrimeStoppers

April 12, 2007. On a quiet road in Pupukea, twenty-one-year-old Masumi Watanabe — shy, gentle, and far from her home on Sado Island, Japan — was last seen alive. Neighbors heard her cry out, a single word: “No.”

By nightfall, she was missing.

What followed was an island-wide search, the discovery of her glasses and blood in a pest control truck, a midnight witness at Kahana Bay, and a trial that would expose impossible lies. A jury found Kirk Matthew Lankford guilty of second-degree murder, and the Hawaii Paroling Authority set a record 150-year minimum.

Yet Masumi has never been found. Her parents still return to Hawaii, pleading for one thing: to bring their daughter home.

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Sources for this episode include:Hawaii News NowThe Honolulu Star-BulletinThe Honolulu AdvertiserThe Charley ProjectfindMasumi.orgHawaii court records

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Special mahalo to Yoza for her song Obsession — a piece that carries the ache and weight of Masumi’s story.

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#MasumiWatanabe #HawaiiCrime #TrueCrime #NorthShore #Oahu #Unsolved #MissingPersons #BeneathThePalms

On Christmas Eve 1975, twenty-seven-year-old Ingrid “Lori” Ostrenga was found strangled inside her Kailua home. She was a Waikiki nightclub dancer connected to El Morocco, an avid horseback rider on Oahu’s Windward side, and a young woman whose life was reduced in the public record to only a few surviving lines.

Days later, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported one detail that still changes the way this case feels: Lori had reportedly been harassed at her home by several men only weeks before she was killed. That does not prove who murdered her. It does not give us a suspect. But it raises the question that has followed this case for nearly fifty years — had danger already found Lori before Christmas Eve?

This fully redone episode of Beneath the Palms revisits Lori’s unsolved murder using official records, archived reporting, and carefully flagged community leads. We look at what is known, what remains uncertain, and why one old memory from Kailua, Waikiki nightlife, El Morocco, or Oahu’s horse community could still matter.

If you knew Lori, her family, the El Morocco nightclub scene, Ulupuni Street, or Kailua’s riding circles in the 1970s, your memory may still have value. Anyone with information can contact CrimeStoppers Honolulu at 808-955-8300 or the Honolulu Police Department Cold Case Unit.

Sources for this episode:

Honolulu Police Department Cold Case: Ingrid L. Ostrenga

https://www.honolulupd.org/cold-case/ingrid-l-ostrenga/

Hawaii Crime Victims Compensation Commission, Case 76-51

https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/57266NCJRS.pdf

Honolulu Star-Bulletin, January 1, 1976, “29 Murders Remain Unsolved from ’75”

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/271991644/

Taft Alumni Association Newsletter, Winter 2024

https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/21d96e1b-128d-44a1-a3a7-97028bf5fa38/downloads/2024_Winter.pdf

AncientFaces: Ingrid Ostrenga Community Genealogy Listing

https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/ingrid-ostrenga-birth-1948-death-1975/46555300

Reddit r/50statecoldcase: “She Was Followed Home: Who Killed Lori?”

https://www.reddit.com/r/50statecoldcase/comments/1qicyt0/she_was_followed_home_who_killed_lori/

Mahalo to Yoza for the use of “Broken Wings.”

#BeneathThePalmsPodcast #HawaiiTrueCrime #IngridOstrenga #LoriOstrenga #Kailua #Oahu #UnsolvedMurder #ColdCase #HawaiiPodcast #TrueCrimeCommunity

On January 20, 1982, nineteen-year-old Lisa Au left her boyfriend’s apartment in Makiki during a heavy storm. By morning, her car was found abandoned on the Kahekili Highway—window down, purse untouched, seat pushed back too far for her small frame. Ten days later, Lisa’s body was discovered in a Tantalus ravine.

No weapon. No cause of death. No one ever charged.

Her case shook Hawaii, sparking fears of police impersonation and leaving her family with decades of unanswered questions. In this newly remastered legacy episode, we return to Lisa’s story with deeper research, greater compassion, and a renewed call for justice.

Sources:

Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Hawaii News Now archives, KHON2 News, KITV4, Civil Beat reporting, and HPD public records.

Mahalo & Thanks:

To the Au family for keeping Lisa’s memory alive, to local journalists who never let her story fade, and to Yoza for her track Obsession, which carries us through the shadows.

#BeneathThePalms #HawaiiTrueCrime #LisaAu #ColdCase #UnsolvedMurder #Honolulu #TrueCrimePodcasts #HawaiiCrime #JusticeForLisa

Three lives ended in minutes on a quiet ridge above Honolulu.
A taxi driver, Jason and Colleen Takamori, and the Tantalus Lookout — a place known for romance and city views — became the center of one of Hawaii’s most shocking crimes.

On July 6, 2006, the Tantalus triple murder unfolded with chilling precision. A cab ride, a married couple’s evening out, and suddenly, three lives stolen execution-style. Hours later, the violence escalated to a home invasion and car theft that terrified Honolulu through the night. The suspect was caught — but instead of trial and sentencing, the story turned toward mental illness, courtroom delays, and a ruling of permanent unfitness to stand trial.

This is the Honolulu triple murder that left families without justice, and cast a shadow over one of Oahu’s most beautiful lookouts.

—Sources for this episode include:The Honolulu AdvertiserThe Honolulu Star-BulletinHawaii News NowTaxi Library Memorial for Manh Nguyen

—Follow Beneath the Palms on Spotify, Apple, and Amazon.For visuals and updates, join us on Instagram and YouTube.
And if you’d like to walk further with us, you can find bonus episodes and support on Patreon at Beneath the Palms Podcast.

—#HawaiiTrueCrime #Honolulu #TantalusLookout #TripleMurder #UnsolvedJustice #BeneathThePalmsPodcast

Today, we’re bringing you something different. A special preview from our sister podcast, Shadows of Siam — a series that dives deep into Thailand’s darkest crimes, mysteries, and legends.

This story is about Si Quey Sae-Ung, a man whose name became a warning whispered into the ears of children for generations:

“If you misbehave, Si Quey will come. And he’ll eat your liver.”

Accused of killing children in the 1950s, executed in 1959, and displayed behind glass for over sixty years, Si Quey became more than a man. He became Thailand’s most feared bogeyman.

What you’ll hear today is just the beginning of his story. To hear the full episode — including his trial, the cannibal myth, and the decades he spent embalmed as a museum exhibit — head over to Shadows of Siam.

New episodes drop every Tuesday at 7 AM Thailand time.

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Follow Beneath the Palms here for new episodes every Thursday at 7 AM HST.

Follow Shadows of Siam for new episodes every Tuesday at 7 AM Thailand time.

#BeneathThePalms #ShadowsOfSiam #TrueCrimePodcast #ThailandCrime #SiQuey #CannibalKiller #UrbanLegends #TrueCrimeCommunity #PodcastPreview #ColdWarHistory