UH student died in fall from hiking trail
The city Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the 23-year-old woman who died after falling 30 to 35 feet into a waterfall pool at the Kaau Crater Trail in Palolo as Kaitlan Prugger, a University of Hawaii graduate student.
The victim died of cranial cerebral injuries due to a fall, according to the autopsy report. The death is classified as accidental.
The Fire Department reported that Prugger was hiking Saturday with two other hikers above the first waterfall on the trail.
Prugger was trying to get a picture looking down the falls and apparently lost her footing and ended up in the pool, fire officials reported.
Her death was reported Monday on the website "Crossfit Fringe," a gym in Columbia, Mo., where she went to college, noting, "If you knew her, the idea of those being her final moments are in a weird way somewhat comforting, at least to me. She was in her element, always on an adventure — seeking out moments and places to rival her immense passion for life."
Prugger’s Facebook profile said she became a UH graduate student researcher in July.
Man using arc cutter severely burns self
A 44-year-old man was burned over a quarter of his body Tuesday in Waianae.
The city Emergency Medical Services Division reported the man was in serious condition with first-degree burns at Apana Road when he was taken to a hospital. The injury was reported at 12:48 p.m.
Fire Capt. Tyler Chan said the man was at a neighbor’s former pig farm using an arc cutter — a torchlike tool — to cut something.
Chan said firefighters initially suspected he may have been burned by a flash from a flammable gas since there was no sign of an extensive fire.
A hazardous materials unit was dispatched to search for a leak of flammable gas, but no trace was found, he said. The cause remains undetermined, Chan said.
Sibling held in attack on older sister
Police arrested a 20-year-old Mililani Mauka woman for allegedly stabbing her sister Sunday.
A 23-year-old man who does not have a local address was also arrested in the case. Both were arrested Monday at Honolulu Airport.
According to police, the female suspect attacked the 23-year-old victim with a knife, then, along with the male suspect, held her against her will and forced her to make online purchases.
Police said the suspect and victim live together.
Both suspects were arrested on suspicion of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree robbery.
