Police identified the body of a man found Friday in a ravine during the search for a missing elderly Hilo couple as the husband, 93-year-old Masaru Miyamoto.
Police identified the body of a man found Friday in a ravine during the search for a missing elderly Hilo couple as the husband, 93-year-old Masaru Miyamoto.
Police Lt. Greg Esteban of the Hilo Criminal Investigations Section said late Monday afternoon the identification was made via fingerprints and relatives have been notified.
While looking for 93-year-old Masaru Miyamoto and his 88-year-old wife, Tamie Miyamoto, officers found the man’s body at the bottom of a ravine behind a home on Kahema Street. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.
The missing woman was found in an area of thick vegetation.
“At the time of recovery, an unidentified body was taken to the hospital for pronouncement (of death),” Esteban said. “Foul play is not suspected.
“The female, Tamie Miyamoto, was treated and remains at Hilo Medical Center.”
A written statement by police said the woman was suffering from exposure.
According to police, the Miyamotos had been doing yard work for relatives who were off-island and that they frequently picked warabi behind the house where Tamie Miyamoto and the body were found.
After a dispatch Friday afternoon seeking information from the public on the whereabouts of the missing couple, police released another statement Friday evening that said the Miyamotos had both been “located and transported to Hilo Medical Center,” but didn’t mention Masaru Miyamoto had been found deceased, likely because he hadn’t been officially identified.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.