Body Found Near End of Hwy 130 in Kalapana

An autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause of death of a body found Thursday afternoon in a forested area near the lava plain at the end of Highway 130 in Kalapana.

Police said the decomposing body was found by a hiker who reported it to police at 2:55 p.m.

The remains were taken to the Hilo Medical Center morgue.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Det. Todd Pataray at 961-2382 or tpataray@co.hawaii.hi.us.

The body appears to have been located in the same vicinity in which a rental car belonging to a missing Japanese tourist was found in February.

It is also in the same general area as the campsite of Brittany-Jane Royal, whose body was found floating off Kalapana on May 28, and her missing boyfriend, Boaz Johnson.

An autopsy showed that Royal had been the victim of strangulation.

Johnson, who had not been in contact with his family since the day before Royal’s body was found, was initially reported as missing but later declared by police as a suspect in Royal’s murder.