Big Island mother wanted in custodial interference case, 6-year-old daughter found safe in Arizona

A 48-year-old Pa‘auilo mother wanted in a custodial interference case and her 6-year-old daughter, who both disappeared more than 2 weeks ago, were found safe nearly 3,000 miles from where they were last seen on the Big Island.

Hawai‘i Island police report that Sarah Coultas and her daughter Violet Coultas were located in Cottonwood, Ariz., about 100 miles north of Phoenix.

Violet was found safe asleep and cared for by Cottonwoood police until personnel with Arizona Department of Child Safety arrived to take her into their care.

Her 48-year-old mother was arrested without incident. Coultas remains in custody pending extradition to Hawai‘i and further legal proceedings.

Hawai‘i Police Department issued a July 19 plea to the public seeking help with finding Coultas and Violet, who were last seen together on the Big Island the afternoon of July 6 at the top of Miloli‘i Road in South Kona.

After learning that Coultas and Violet were thought to be in Arizona, and getting credible information that they were in the Phoenix area, an arrest warrant was issued for Coultas for violating a court order and Arizona Department of Public Safety issued its first Turquoise Alert ever the evening of July 23.

The alert is a new Arizona statewide notification meant to help locate missing and endangered people younger than 65 years old, with an emphasis on Native American and indigenous people.

Federal Bureau of Investigation authorities contacted Cottonwood Police Department at about 11:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time with new information indicating Coultas and Violet were in their jurisdiction.

Cottonwood police officers responded and successfully found Coultas and Violet in the early morning hours of July 24.

The Turquoise Alert was cancelled a short time later.

Violet is now safe and in protective care because of the collaborative efforts of several law enforcement agencies in Hawai‘i and Arizona, as well as the watchful eyes of concerned members of the community:

• Hawai‘i Police Department.
• Missing Child Center-Hawai‘i within Hawai‘i Department of the Attorney General.
• Cottonwood Police Department.
• Arizona Department of Public Safety.
• Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center personnel.
• Federal Bureau of Investigation.
• Vigilant members of the public.

“We appreciate the hard work of our partner agencies in Hawai‘i, such as the [Federal Bureau of Investigation] and the Missing Child Center-Hawai‘i, as well as our law enforcement colleagues in Arizona,” said Hawai‘i Police Department Area II Operations Commander Maj. Thomas Shopay III in a media release update about the custodial interference case. “We thank [Arizona Department of Public Safety] for issuing a Turquoise Alert. This was truly a group effort and a great example of a young child being found quickly through teamwork and community involvement.”

Shopay and Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Jeffrey Glover agree that this case underscores the importance of strong interagency communication and public awareness in time-sensitive investigations involving at-risk people.

“Turquoise Alerts are an essential tool in quickly notifying the public and mobilizing law enforcement when a vulnerable individual is missing,” said Glover in the update. “In this case, the system worked exactly as intended. We are grateful for the teamwork and commitment of all those who contributed to Violet’s safe recovery.”

Arizona’s new Turquoise Alert statewide notification was established in May following the approval by state lawmakers and signature by the state’s governor of Emily’s Law, named in honor of 14-year-old Emily Pike.

Pike was a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe found dead — her body dismembered and stuffed into trash bags — on Valentine’s Day in the woods north of Globe, Ariz., after being reported missing in late January from a Mesa, Ariz., group home more than 100 miles away.

Her cause of death was released in June, ruled as “homicidal violence with blunt force trauma” by the Pinal County, Ariz., Medical Examiner’s Office.

No arrests have been made in her brutal murder.