Colleagues of Keiko Kuroki were still in shock and disbelief Thursday after learning that the Oahu real estate agent had died along with prominent Honolulu attorney Gary Galiher in a helicopter crash on Molokai.

“It’s such an unspeakable tragedy when it’s so sudden,” said Kuroki’s boss, Scott Higashi, president and CEO of Locations LLC. “It’s hard. It’s hard for folks to cope with that. It’s literally — people just saw her yesterday.”

Originally from Japan, Kuroki was a single mother of an adult son. She danced in a hula troupe, was a member of a Buddhist temple and ran her own side business selling health products.

Employed by the Locations real estate firm in Honolulu since 2005, she was an outstanding employee who consistently scored excellent client service ratings, Higashi said.

“I’m going to miss her,” he added.

On Tuesday evening Galiher, an experienced pilot, was flying his helicopter with Kuroki to his home in eastern Molokai. Galiher’s colleagues reported the helicopter missing when they could not reach him Wednesday morning.

Maui Fire Services Chief Edward Taomoto said the wreckage was discovered at 1:31 p.m. on a ridge at the 1,400-foot elevation in mountainous, tree-covered terrain less than a mile from Galiher’s private helipad located mauka of his home.

The National Weather Service had issued an advisory for turbulence near mountainous areas across the islands for Tuesday evening. Northeasterly winds of up to 10 to 15 mph with gusts of 20 to 25 mph at ground level were reported by the agency.

National Transportation Safety Board officials arrived in Honolulu on Thursday with investigators from Anchorage, Alaska, likely to start their work today, said Allen Kenitzer, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Meanwhile the Maui Fire Department’s Air 1 helicopter was assisting police with efforts to recover the bodies.

Fellow real estate agents at Locations said Thursday that they were unaware of Kuroki’s Molokai travel plans and weren’t aware of any recent connection to Galiher. But several did say they had heard she had worked at Galiher’s law firm a long time ago.

Ilana Waxman, a partner with Galiher’s law firm, Galiher DeRobertis Waxman, said she didn’t believe Kuroki had ever been employed there.

She said Kuroki was a close friend of a longtime employee of the law firm. That employee had introduced her to Galiher, she said, and on Tuesday Kuroki was traveling with the senior attorney to Molokai to help advise him with some real estate-related dealings.

On Thursday Waxman said the firm experienced an outpouring of sympathy from across the country, particularly from colleagues who worked in the asbestos litigation field.

Galiher, 70, was nationally known for his work on cases involving mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer.

“It’s an extraordinarily sad day,” Waxman said. “He was an exceptional guy and this is a terrible tragedy.”

Kuroki’s colleagues also praised the real estate agent, who was a member of the firm’s team selling units at Kapiolani Residence, a new 45-story condominium on Kapiolani Boulevard.

Kuroki, they said, was a dedicated agent who went above and beyond the call of duty in both work and friendships.

They also described her as a private person who didn’t talk much about her personal life.

“You wouldn’t pick her out in a crowd as being the one who is drawing attention to herself, but she was clearly the one always diligently working and listening,” Higashi said.

“She was gracious, generous and very polite,” added her team supervisor, Sandy Lau. “She was a private person but effective at what she did. She did a great job.”

Fellow agent Kumiko Burns reminisced about Kuroki’s funny personality and how the two would joke around as they worked into the night.

“Last night I was working late, and I couldn’t help watching the elevator. I was hoping the door would open and she would pop out. That’s what I was thinking,” Burns said.

Kuroki, described as being in her 60s, was planning to attend the company Christmas party and participate in a skit with a dozen other Japanese-fluent agents, she said.

Agent Elizabeth Steward said, “What makes me cry is that I don’t think she was ready to go. It’s like she was snatched away. But she had so many good things going on.”

Dan Richards, Locations marketing director, described Kuroki as an exceptional mother and a person many aspired to be like.

“She was passionate and gave her clients the best,” he said.

Kuroki is survived by son Ryo, from New York, and a brother in Japan. Services are pending.