Hawaii island police ID remains as missing musician
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Robert Keawe Lopaka Ryder, 37, was reported missing on the Big Island in January. Ryder is known for his ukulele performances, and as a member of the band Na Mele Pono, shown in 2009.
Human remains found in South Kohala on Monday have been identified through dental records as 37-year-old Robert Keawe Lopaka Ryder of Kailua-Kona, according to a Hawaii County police news release issued Thursday afternoon.
On Jan. 17, Ryder’s family reported that they had not heard from him since Thanksgiving 2013.
During an autopsy conducted on Wednesday, the medical examiner determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and that the manner of death was homicide.
Detectives from the Area II Criminal Investigations Section are investigating the case as a murder.
Detectives located the human remains at about 5:30 p.m. on Monday on vacant land between Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Puako Beach Drive.
