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Abducted Girl Rescued After Scuffle at Hilo Cafe; Watch Family’s Reaction

By Tom Hasslinger
 September 17, 2022, 12:35 PM HST
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The girl who was reportedly abducted on Friday was found at Cafe Pesto in Hilo on Saturday and brought to safety.

“We’re feeling so blessed,” Laureen Debina, aunt of Mikella Lani Debina, told Big Island Now. “Elated. We’re so thankful for the community that had a hand in bringing her back. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Mikella Lani Debina was reportedly taken by a masked perpetrator with a knife Friday between 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. from Anaeho‘omalu Bay near Lava Lava Beach Club.

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Dozens of people gathered on Saturday to help search for the missing girl when news of her rescue broke. The abducted girl had convinced her captor to take her to get something to eat. When he took her to Cafe Pesto, she got out of the car. A bystander noticed an ensuing scuffle and interfered.

Watch the family’s reaction here.

Debina is currently with Hilo police.

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 Tom Hasslinger
Tom Hasslinger is a journalist who lives in Kailua-Kona. Prior to joining Big Island Now, he worked as the managing editor for West Hawaii Today and deputy editor for The Garden Island newspaper on Kauai. He's worked for over 15 years as a reporter for the Oahu-based Civil Beat news outlet, as well as in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and Douglas Wyoming.
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