HONOLULU — The parents of a 6-year-old adopted girl are accused of her murder several months after reporting the child missing. The sister of the girl says she was previously found dead inside a dog cage with duct tape covering her mouth and nose before the parents made the false report, according to investigators.
The sister’s version of events were contained in a criminal complaint filed Friday in Honolulu Circuit Court. The girl provided her observations to a detective of the Honolulu Police Department Nov. 5, nearly two months after Isabella Kalua was reported missing by her parents, Isaac Kalua, 52, and Lehua Kalua, 43, according to the criminal complaint.
Following the investigation, the couple was arrested Wednesday and booked on the charge of second-degree murder, NBC News reported.
During the investigation, Isaac Kalua denied being involved in Isabella’s disappearance, according to the complaint.
The sister, who was identified in the documents only by her initials, was also adopted by the Kaluas. Her description of events occurred about two months before she was interviewed by detectives. She described seeing Isabella duct-taped and inside the cage in the middle of the night, court documents revealed.
When she saw Isabella in this condition, she was not breathing, the sister told a detective.
Lehua Kalua reportedly removed Isabella from the cage and put her in a tub full of water. Her goal was apparently “to see if she would wake up,” the sister told police. However, “it did not work,” she said.
Afterward, her parents admonished her to “keep a secret” that Isabella didn’t wake up, according to the sister, NBC reported.
Although the girl believed her sister was dead, she was unaware what her parents did with the body, which has not been located.
The sister told authorities that Isabella was confined to a cage since she would “sneak around at night and want to eat because she was hungry,” adding that Lehua Kalua had duct-taped Isabella “plenty of times.”
Lehua Kalua reported Isabella missing Sept. 13. She told authorities the girl was missing that morning after allegedly finding her bed empty.
At the time she was reported missing, an extensive search was initiated, which included hundreds of volunteers scouring the Waimanalo area of Honolulu, where the family home is located.
On Wednesday, police said that they now believe the account provided by Lehua Kalua is false, according to NBC.
The Kalua’s have adopted/fostered four children since 2009. Their criminal case was referred to the Honolulu public defender’s office, which declined to comment Friday.
