MEDIA RELEASE

Hawaiʻi Island police have identified the man whose body was found Sunday (August 9) in Captain Cook as 69-year-old Dolores Borja Valle of Hōlualoa.

Valle was identified through fingerprints Tuesday morning (August 11) but police withheld his name until his family could be notified.

An autopsy conducted Tuesday determined that he died from sharp and blunt force trauma to the head and that the manner of death was homicide.

Detectives from the Area II Criminal Investigations Section have reclassified the case to murder and are continuing the investigation.

At 7:22 a.m. Sunday, Kona Patrol officers responded to a report of an unresponsive body lying in a coffee field off Keopuka Mauka Road. The body was officially pronounced dead at Kona Community Hospital at 3:50 p.m. Sunday.

Police ask anyone who has any information about this case to call the Police Department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311 or contact Detective Walter Ah Mow at 326-4646, extension 238, or walter.ahmow@hawaiicounty.gov, or Detective David Matsushima at 326-4646, extension 228, or david.matsushima@hawaiicounty.gov.

Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call the islandwide Crime Stoppers number at 961-8300 and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. Crime Stoppers is a volunteer program run by ordinary citizens who want to keep their community safe. Crime Stoppers doesn’t record calls or subscribe to caller ID. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.