The gruesome discovery of a child’s fingers in a trash bin at the Kukui Gardens public housing complex in Liliha had parents holding their children a little tighter Monday and kids wondering who could have done such a thing.
"I feel scared," 12-year-old Kukui Gardens resident Emily Wong said after Honolulu police issued an appeal to the public Monday for information on the case.
Elaine Qu, 25, lives in the ground-floor apartment next to the trash bin at Kukui Gardens’ Building No. 4 on the Aala Street side of the housing project. The discovery of the child’s fingers so close to where she sleeps "makes me a little bit scared," she said. "I feel strange."
The bin sits next to a gate that’s open during daytime hours and is easily accessible to the public, said Kevin Carney, vice president/ Hawaii of EAH Housing, the managing agent for Kukui Gardens.
A woman digging through the trash bin for cans and bottles at 11:30 p.m. Feb. 2 found a plastic zip-close bag full of bones, Carney said.
The woman called police, and officers went with the woman to Kukui Gardens on Feb. 3 looking for witnesses and clues, Carney said.
A Honolulu CrimeStoppers news release said the fingers were found Feb. 12.
Laboratory tests concluded Monday that the remains were human and belonged to a child, police Sgt. Kim Buffett said.
"It definitely is human and (from) a child," said Buffett, coordinator of Honolulu CrimeStoppers. "It is sad and disturbing. We are looking for any information. So far we have nothing, absolutely nothing."
Buffett said she did not know how many fingers were discovered, whether they are from a boy or a girl, or the age of the remains. KHON reported that two whole and four partial fingers were found, and that sources said the child is believed to be a girl between 21⁄2 and 4 years old.
There are no reports to police of a child who may have had his or her fingers maimed, Buffett said.
Kukui Gardens has 389 one- to four-bedroom apartments spread across 20 buildings and is home to low-income residents, Carney said.
The woman who found the plastic bag does not live in the complex and repeatedly has been asked not to dig through the housing project’s trash containers, Carney said.
After the woman returned to Kukui Gardens with HPD officers Feb. 3, police told Kukui Gardens officials "that they were possibly monkey bones," Carney said. "We were told they can be purchased in Chinatown. All of a sudden we find that’s not the case. They now believe these are the bones of a child. We don’t know if this is a recent crime, an old crime or a crime at all."
There have been no reports at Kukui Gardens "of a missing child or anything like that," Carney said. "It’s a total shock for us. It’s horrible. … We hope to God this is an anomaly."
Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300, or *CRIME on a cellphone.
