NEED TO KNOW
Two women’s bodies were discovered inside a fallen banyan tree in Hilo, Hawaii
The victims were identified on a GoFundMe page as Trisha and Michelle, a couple known to frequent the area
Family members are grieving the loss and seeking community support through a fundraiser, expressing frustration over delays in the police search
Two dead bodies were discovered in a large banyan tree that toppled over in Hawaii earlier this month, and now authorities say they’re investigating the incident.
Police were called to Kīlauea Avenue in Hilo, on Hawaii's Big Island, on the morning of July 20 on a report of possible human remains located deep within the fallen tree, the Hawaii Police Department said in a statement.
Hawaii Fire Department personnel confirmed the presence of human remains, but the debris was so thick that firefighters were not immediately able to remove the bodies due to safety concerns, according to the statement.
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Police officers confirmed to SFGATE that the human remains belonged to two women, whose identities have not officially been confirmed. The department doesn’t suspect foul play and officials are conducting an autopsy to confirm how the two women died.
While their identities haven't been confirmed officially, a GoFundMe page identified the victims as Trisha and Michelle, a couple who regularly hung out in the area.
The fundraiser was started by Savana Moore, who says she’s the older sister of Trisha. Moore wrote in the fundraiser that she reported her sister missing soon after the tree fell on July 12, and allegedly insisted police check the tree as foul odors emanated from it. She says they told her there was nothing they could do since it was on private property.
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Moore said that on July 20, her other sister, Jessica, allegedly found a body and called authorities to investigate, who then found the remains of Michelle and Trisha. She says her family was upset that it “took so long to get the help we needed to find them.”
“We ask kindly for the help of the community to lay these two to rest,” Moore wrote in the GoFundMe post, which has raised more than $8,800 as of July 30.
“If you knew Trisha then you knew how special she was. Her smile contagious, always there to help someone in need even if she was struggling herself," she wrote. "Now we want to show her how much she was loved. How much the both of them were loved."
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