Vanished in Paradise: Honolulu Strangler & Hawaii’s Unsolved Murders of Vicki Purdy, Regina Sakamoto, Denise Hughes, Louise Medeiros & Linda Pesce | Revisited: 006

Honolulu Strangler. Hawaii true crime. Unsolved serial killer. The murders of Vicki Purdy, Regina Sakamoto, Denise Hughes, Louise Medeiros, and Linda Pesce remain one of the darkest unresolved cases in Honolulu history. In this revisited episode of Beneath the Palms, we return to the Honolulu Strangler case, a series of unsolved murders that shook Oahu between 1985 and 1986. Five women disappeared from ordinary places — a night out in Waikiki, a missed bus, a workday, a ride home — and were later found bound, strangled, and sexually assaulted near waterways and airport-side corridors. This full redo rebuilds the story from the ground up. We stay close to the verified record, follow the investigation as Honolulu police and the FBI searched for a pattern, and look carefully at the public suspect most often tied to the case: Howard Gay, who was questioned but never charged or convicted. We also step into public theory and online discussion with care — including questions about the airport corridor, possible military connections, why the killings stopped, and whether modern DNA or genetic genealogy could still matter if usable evidence was preserved. None of that speculation is presented as fact. The verified truth remains this: five women were murdered, no one was convicted, and the case remains unresolved. If you know anything about the murders of Vicki Gail Purdy, Regina Sakamoto, Denise Hughes, Louise Medeiros, or Linda Pesce, contact the Honolulu Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at 808-723-3609. Anonymous tips can also be submitted to Honolulu CrimeStoppers at 808-955-8300, by dialing *CRIME from a Hawaii-based cell phone, or through the CrimeStoppers website. Sources: The FBI warned Hawaii serial killers were coming. Then one struck. — SFGATE Serial Killer Case Still a Mystery — Hawaii News Now Hear the Story of Hawaii’s First Serial Killer on “What School You Went?” — HONOLULU Magazine The Honolulu Strangler with Robbie Dingeman — PBS Hawaii / What School You Went? Cold Cases — Honolulu Police Department / Aole Poina Criminal Investigation Division — Honolulu Police Department Contact Us — CrimeStoppers Honolulu Case 62: The Honolulu Strangler — Casefile True Crime HI — The Honolulu Strangler, 1985–86, Unsolved — Websleuths Rewind Discussion: Case 62: The Honolulu Strangler — Reddit / Casefile Music credit: Thank you to Yoza for the song “Broken Wings.” #BeneathThePalms #HonoluluStrangler #HawaiiTrueCrime #HonoluluTrueCrime #UnsolvedMurders #ColdCase #HawaiiColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #VickiPurdy #ReginaSakamoto #DeniseHughes #LouiseMedeiros #LindaPesce