HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
SOUTH HILO PATROL DISTRICT
OFFICER REED MAHUNA
PHONE: 961-2213
APRIL 8, 2002
H-03130
MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE
A 16-year-old California girl who had been reported missing was located Monday (April 8, 2002) at Hilo International Airport after she had gone sightseeing without informing her mother.
The missing girl, identified as Lanette Leilani Monroe, of a Torrance, California, address, was found at 12:50 p.m. She was safe and in good health and looking for her mother.
The girl, who performed at the recent Merrie Monarch Festival, said she went sightseeing with her hula halau and had been unable to reach her mother.
The girl was reported missing Sunday evening. She was last seen by her parents on Saturday as she performed during the hula festival. She reportedly left to attend a meeting with her dance troupe about 9 p.m. at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel and had not been seen since. Telephone calls to her cell phone went unanswered.
After being located, the girl said her cell phone went dead and that she had been unable to reach her mother to tell her she had gone sightseeing with her California hula halau.
# # #