HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
KONA CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SECTION
LIEUTENANT PAUL KEALOHA
PHONE: 326-4646, EXT. 266
DECEMBER 17, 2004

MEDIA RELEASE

Police have tentatively identified the skeletal remains of a body found Thursday (December 16, 2004) in the Sunset subdivision of Kailua-Kona as those of a man who has been missing for more than eight years.

West Hawaii Criminal Investigation Section detectives believe the remains are those of Astral Ananda, who was 52 at the time he was reported missing on August 28, 1996. Positive identification is expected through the examination of dental records.

CIS detectives said Ananda died of a gunshot wound. They suspect no foul play in his death, however, because he was described as despondent and suicidal when he was reported missing, and he had left a suicide note in his Sunset subdivision residence.

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