Honolulu Strangler

Also known as: Honolulu Rapist

Active: 1985–1986
Region: Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA
State: HI
Kind: Serial
Status: Unsolved
Victims: 5

Between May 1985 and May 1986, five women in Honolulu were abducted and strangled, their bodies left near the water around Keehi Lagoon, Moanalua Stream, Waikele Stream and Sand Island, not far from Honolulu International Airport. The victims, aged 17 to 36, had no known connection to one another. The Honolulu Police Department formed a serial-killer task force with help from the FBI and investigators from the Green River case, set up roadblocks and ran decoy operations, but the killer was never identified. The case remains unsolved.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

Vicki Gail Purdy, 25 · May 29, 1985
An Army pilot's wife who worked at a video store.
Regina Sakamoto, 17 · January 14, 1986
A student at Leilehua High School.
Denise Hughes, 21 · January 30, 1986
A secretary at a telephone company who commuted to work by bus.
Louise Medeiros, 25 · March 26, 1986
Was returning to Oahu after visiting family on Kauai.
Linda Pesce, 36 · April 29, 1986

Timeline of locations

May 29, 1985
Shorebird Hotel area, Waikiki (Abduction, approximate area)
Vicki Purdy was last seen around midnight near the Shorebird Hotel in Waikiki after a night out; her car was later found there.
May 30, 1985
Keehi Lagoon (Recovery site, approximate area)
Vicki Purdy's body was found on an embankment at Keehi Lagoon the morning after she disappeared. Eight months later, on January 15, 1986, Regina Sakamoto was found nearby; she had called her boyfriend the morning before to say she had missed her bus to school.
February 1, 1986
Moanalua Stream (Recovery site, approximate area)
Denise Hughes was taken while waiting for a bus to work on January 30, 1986. Fishermen found her body near Moanalua Stream two days later. HPD formed a task force days afterward.
March 26, 1986
Honolulu International Airport (Abduction, approximate area)
Louise Medeiros disappeared after arriving at the airport on a late flight from Kauai.
April 2, 1986
Waikele Stream (Recovery site, approximate area)
A road work crew found Louise Medeiros's body near Waikele Stream.
April 29, 1986
Nimitz-H1 viaduct (Abduction, approximate area)
Linda Pesce's car was found abandoned on the Nimitz-H1 viaduct after she disappeared.
May 3, 1986
Sand Island (Recovery site, approximate area)
Linda Pesce's body was found on Sand Island on May 3, 1986.

Sources

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.