Question: Whatever happened in the search for the Waipahu mother of three whose family put out a missing person’s plea in May?
Answer: Honolulu police say the case remains open for Loida Gabon Wideman, 39, who was reported missing May 13. Wideman was last seen heading to work as a certified nurse aide at Ka Punawai Ola nursing home in Kapolei, where she worked since 2003.
Her gold 2003 Saturn Ion four-door sedan was found three days later parked curbside on Lehua Street in Pearl City.
The car was about 11⁄2 miles from Wideman’s home and 81⁄2 miles from her workplace. It had no signs of foul play or of being broken into, said Wideman’s brother, Junior Gabon.
Police said multiple searches in the Pearl City area over the past several months have turned up no sign of Wideman.
Wideman left her Kahualena Street home at 9:30 p.m. on Mother’s Day but did not arrive at work.
Her family has said they believe she would never leave behind her sons — ages 5, 8 and 11.
About two weeks after her disappearance, about 100 volunteers searched for about three hours along the Pearl Harbor Bike Path from Pearl City to Waipahu.
No determination has been made whether a crime was committed, a police official said recently.
In 2008 Wideman filed for divorce from her husband, Lonnell Wideman. Police interviewed him about his ex-wife’s disappearance, but said in May that he is not a suspect.
Lonnell Wideman said in May he had no idea what happened to his ex-wife. He said she did not have a boyfriend and did not seem unhappy.
Lonnell Wideman, 48, was arrested shortly after his ex-wife’s disappearance for violating terms of his parole. Lonnell Wideman was sentenced in 1988 to life in prison for the attempted murder of a 24-year-old Moiliili woman.
Hawaii Paroling Authority Administrator Tommy Johnson said Lonnell Wideman violated parole because he failed to tell his parole officer that police served him with a temporary restraining order in 2011 for allegedly sexually assaulting a Kapolei woman, nor did he relay that police questioned him in the disappearance of his ex-wife.
Loida Wideman is 5 feet 2, weighs 134 pounds and is of Filipino ancestry.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
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This update was written by Gregg K. Kakesako. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To…” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.
