Diane Yayoe Suzuki was last seen twenty-nine years ago before she disappeared on July 6, 1985.
The nineteen year old was an aspiring journalist and student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She also worked as a part-time instructor and performer at the Rosalie Woodson Dance Academy located in ʻAiea, a suburb of Honolulu.
On the first Saturday of July, she had planned to go with her friends to the North Shore of Oʻahu after completing a dance lesson. She was last seen when the class ended at around 15:00. Her friend had come to the academy for her at 15:15 but Diane was nowhere to be found. She had left behind her car, keys, and purse.
Her parents had become worried and parked outside of the dance studio in case she returned. While they waited, they saw three people leave the building carrying a heavy trunk which was then placed onto a vehicle.
An aside on crime in Hawaiʻi
Hawaiʻi was not spared of the crime bubble that gripped much of the United States from 1960 to 2000. Although crime rates sagged between the peaks of 1980 and 1991, the state's violent crime rate had increased ten-fold from 1960 (21.8) to 1985 (219.4)[1]. The era saw several sensational crimes like that of the Honolulu Strangler, Ronnie Ching, and the Xerox murders. Diane Suzuki is one of at least nine girls whose deaths and disappearances remain unsolved[2].
The three persons carrying the trunk were Dewey Hamasaki, his father, and his sister. Dewey was known to be odd and had a crush on Diane. He also worked at the academy as a photographer and was there when she finished her lesson.
The police brought Dewey in for questioning. He had some scratches that he claimed were inflicted when he was attacked by a rooster. The marsh around his house was searched but nothing was found. Having never been arrested, he was released for lack of evidence.
Five years later, the police applied for two search warrants to investigate the dance studio and a pig farm belonging to Dewey's father. Frustratingly, only the former was initially approved.
Using Luminol, a luminescent spray that reacts to blood, the investigators discovered traces of blood in the dance studio bathroom. However, Diane's blood type was not available for comparison.
Six months later, the second search warrant was finally approved. While searching the pig farm, the investigators found a section of stone wall that seemed to have been recently rebuilt. As they turned their attention towards it, Dewey's father became increasingly agitated. His lawyer, Keith Shigetomi, pulled the prosecutor aside and informally asked him how he would feel about charging the suspects with manslaughter if they plead guilty. The prosecutor rejected the plea bargain, hoping to find evidence of murder. They looked behind the wall but found nothing.
One investigator inexplicably removed the stump of a banana tree and began digging. He found some clothes that were similar to what Diane was last seen wearing. They were also her size.
The soil beneath the wall was tested and it indicated that the wall had been built only six months earlier. Investigators claimed that the delay between the two search warrants gave the Hamasakis an impetus to hide the body.
In 1993, city prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, a close friend of the Suzukis, brought the results of the investigation, the suspects, and nearly one hundred witnesses before three investigative grand jury sessions. However, the court declined to press charges for lack of damning evidence. The investigation has since ceased.
Dewey Hamasaki continues to practice photography
and has published his work in a Christian photography book[3] [4].
The Rosalie Dance Academy continues to operate.
Diane Suzuki's funeral was held in 1997. Her mother passed away in 1998. Her aging father continues to see.
This needs to be said somewhere on the net.
I heard about the guy before I knew about the murder though I had seen her picture a lot I never thought much about it.
He was suspected by his neighbors and friends of his sister from the start. He is not in Jail because the Hawaii Police are epic FAIL's
OT but related...
Guy got beaten to death across from my crib (Waikiki) rolled into a carpet and was taken to a plane he never got on says the guy who I know BTW....and the dead kids GF is too scared to go back and finger dude because he's connected big time. This is a case folks from Hawaii will know about. That story is too hard to believe but it's true.
The Dewey story is really just a epic set of screw-ups by H.P.D nothing sinister unless stupid as a cup of dirt is evil? When it lets a awkward geek kill a girl and get away with it and his family helps him and everybody just shrugs their shoulder...it is kinda evil.
Shigetomi's offer should have been taken on the spot.
I will add more later but Dewey Hamasaki killed Diane Suzuki.