HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT UNIT
SERGEANT CHRISTOPHER D. GALI
PHONE: 961-2332
NOVEMBER 26, 2004
I-13722/HM
CORONER’S INQUEST

MEDIA RELEASE

A 34-year-old woman was killed Friday (November 26, 2004) in a two-vehicle collision about a tenth of a mile west of the 31-mile marker on Hawaii Belt Road (Route 19) in the Hamakua District.

The victim was identified as Aileen Purdy, of a Kapa’au address in North Kohala.

Responding to a 1:01 p.m. call, Hamakua patrol officers determined that the victim was driving a 2000 Toyota four-door sedan toward Hilo when she struck a guardrail on the mauka side of the road and then struck the cement railing on the Kaholo Bridge. The Toyota then crossed the centerline and collided with a 2003 Ford F-350 pickup truck driven toward Hamakua by Edward Kaipo, 57, of a Hilo address.

Two children in the Toyota — identified as Jin Purdy, 3, and Kelsey Purdy, 14 — were taken to the Hilo Medical Center and North Hawaii Community Hospital.

Kaipo and his wife, Casandra Kaipo, 55, were taken to the Hilo Medical Center, where they were treated and released.

Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the collision, and Traffic Enforcement Unit officers are continuing an investigation to determine if speed was a factor.

Police have initiated a coroner’s inquest case and have ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Friday’s death was the 38th traffic fatality on the Big Island so far this year, compared to 31 at the same time last year.

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