The family of a 39-year-old Waipahu mother of three, missing since Mother’s Day, remains hopeful she will be found alive.
"Right now we’re not thinking the worst," said Junior Gabon, brother of Loida Wideman. "Maybe someone abducted her. That’s what we are thinking. Because they cannot find her body, that’s what happened to her."
Gabon provided pieces of Wideman’s clothing and shoes for police dogs to sniff Thursday before they searched the area around Lehua Avenue in Pearl City, where Wideman’s gold Saturn Ion was found Wednesday.
Police Specialized Services Division units, dogs and detectives combed a thickly wooded area on the opposite side of Lehua from Lehua Elementary School. A helicopter hovered above.
Police said no trace was found of Wideman, a divorced mother of three boys, ages 5, 7 and 11.
Wideman’s car was found at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday by a Pearl City Crime Reduction Unit searching for the car. The Saturn was parked on busy Lehua Avenue in front of Kado’s Lunch Wagon near First Street.
Every day, Shaila Haili, 23, visits her mother in an apartment next to Kado’s.
"I would never have thought of it being right next to our place," she said. "I saw the helicopter and the SWAT team come this morning with their dogs. I’ll keep an eye open and be more cautious."
She said the area is busy, with people parking on the street from early in the morning until Kado’s closing hour of 1 p.m. She said she paid no attention to the gold Saturn until police arrived Wednesday afternoon.
"I kind of feel bad because I didn’t notice it there," Haili said. "It’s weird for her to disappear, especially after Mother’s Day. It’s been four days."
Another neighborhood resident noticed it Wednesday morning but did not know it was the subject of a search.
Lehua Avenue, which leads to Pearl City Peninsula Naval Housing, is heavy with traffic during the day and has a bar open late at night.
Wideman, a certified nurse’s assistant, left Waipahu for work at 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
She never made it to her place of employment, a Kapolei nursing home, and has not been seen since. Her car was found about a mile and a half east of her home, the opposite direction on the H-1 freeway from work.
Her disappearance remains classified as a missing-persons case, but homicide detectives have also been investigating.
"At this time we have no idea why she left, if she left with anyone," said Sgt. Kim Buffett, CrimeStoppers coordinator. "Detectives are looking at all avenues, all possibilities, all avenues, but at this time we really don’t know what the motive is or where she is."
Buffett said she didn’t know whether the car yielded any information.
Police are not providing any details of the case since it is ongoing and remains under investigation.
Buffett said Wideman’s ex-husband, Lonnell Reginald Wideman, was brought in for questioning earlier this week but is not a suspect.
Anyone with information concerning this case is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellphone.
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Star-Advertiser reporter Gordon Y.K. Pang contributed to this report.
