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Patricia Calhau said she accepts that her son Rick isn’t coming home alive. But she is hopeful that new information will answer questions that have haunted her and her family since his disappearance more than 16 years ago.
Rick Calhau was last seen by his wife on Nov. 18, 1996, as he was leaving their Kaneohe home to visit a friend in Kalihi. Calhau’s car was later discovered abandoned in front of Our Savior Lutheran Church near Koauka Street and Moanalua Road in Waimalu.
"For the longest time I expected him to come to the door with his wonderful smile," Patricia Calhau said at a news conference Friday. "But as the years go by …"
The family held a celebration of life for him nine years ago.
Calhau, 29 at the time of his disappearance, worked at a window tinting shop in Kalihi.
Police announced Thursday they had obtained new information on the case, but they did not disclose what they had learned.
Calhau said she is happy with the renewed interest in the case.
"It’s up to the police," she said. "They are the ones who can do something. I’m very happy it’s back in the news. We think about it all the time. It’s something that never leaves you."
Yesterday, Calhau, husband Leroy and daughter Susan met with reporters to appeal to anyone who might have information regarding Rick Calhau’s disappearance.
"Please come forward and give us a hand," she said.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellphone.
While Calhau said she tries to focus on the time she had with her son rather than on his disappearance, "there’s never closure because you’re supposed to leave before your kids."
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