Still Missing HI - Ariel Sellers AKA 'Isabella Kalua', 6, last seen asleep in bdrm, Waimanalo, 12 Sep 2021*Arrests

[Unalienable Rights]

JUSTICE FOR ARIEL RALLY

Join us as we march against the atrocities
that CWS and other organizations have
committed against Ariel and other children.
March in unity to show that we will stand
to protect out keiki and will not be quiet any more.

Nov 27, 2001 6:00 pm
Waikiki Zoo

 

[Dave99]

Arraignment and plea scheduled for Kaluas Monday (11/29) morning at 8:30am. I don't know if it's being streamed live anywhere.

Adoptive parents of Isabell 'Ariel' Kalua to appear in court Monday

 

[Dave99]

Both Lehua and Sonny Kalua, represented by public defenders, pleaded not guilty this morning. The prosecutor said they took multiple steps to destroy evidence. Trial set for January. Here's an article about it:

Lehua and Isaac Kalua plead not guilty to murder, other charges in death of adopted daughter

 

[Dave99]

Good Civil Beat article today about the Kalua case and the current state of Hawaii's Child Welfare Service. You'll notice in the article that CWS is still taking no responsibility at all for their failure to adequately screen the Kalua's nor monitor Ariel's health and well being after she was placed with the the Kalua's (even before adoption). CWS has been replying to media inquiries all over with deflection, blaming the system, Covid rules, etc, but never addressing what they did wrong here and their complete failure to monitor this poor child. Here's the article:

Isabella Kalua Tragedy Turns A Spotlight On The Licensing Of Foster Families

 

[JerseyGirl]

Trial date set for couple charged with murdering 6-year-old adoptive daughter

Their court-appointed attorneys entered “not guilty” pleas on their behalf and requested a jury trial. It’s scheduled to begin Jan. 31.

 

[AC's Grandma]

If a report comes in that a child is being beaten or starved, maybe the parents should be required to take the child to a Pediatrician for an exam. Or at least to a social services office to be examined by a trained registered nurse. Something
more than a social worker popping quickly into the house, because I think social workers are not allowed to examine children's bodies, right?

So this allegation above - that police "took no action" - means what exactly? Literally they took no action? Why?

Where I live social workers for CPS are allowed to examine children's bodies if abuse is suspected. I know it happens in other states as well due to having them called on me when my children were toddlers and I lived in RI.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 28, 2021
In memoriam: Remembering the pioneers, legends and leaders Hawaii lost in 2021 (hawaiinewsnow.com)
The tragic stories of Kytana Ancog and Ariel Kalua gripped the community, prompting weeks-long searches after their disappearances. Ancog was just 18 months old when she was last seen alive on Jan. 31. Kalua was 6 years old. Their remains have never been found.

 

[Unalienable Rights]

I don't think it will come as a surprise to anyone that the trial that was scheduled for January 31 has been postponed.

Murder trial of Isabella ‘Ariel’ Kalua’s foster parents gets delayed

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The murder trial of Isabella “Ariel” Kalua’s foster parents is now delayed for nearly five months.

Isaac and Lehua Kalua will not be back in court until May due to the latest COVID surge — which has impacted jury trials across the state.

Their trial was originally scheduled for the end of January.

The Kaluas are accused of locking their 6-year-old adopted daughter Ariel in a dog cage and killing her.

The two remain in custody at Oahu Community Correctional Center.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Who’s Looking for Hawaii’s Missing Girls?

 

[Knox]

A proposal before lawmakers is calling on social workers to continue home visitations of families and children even after adoptions are finalized.

Waimanalo Representative Lisa Marten introduced House Hill 2424. Part of it proposes a home visitation six months after adoption and a once-a-year home visit after that.
Proposed ‘Ariel’s Law’ looks to expand child welfare oversight | KHON2

 

[Knox]

HONOLULU (KHON2) — The home at the center of a heart-wrenching murder case is up for sale.

The home of Isabella Kalua’s adoptive parents went on the market on Monday, June 13. The two are behind bars accused of killing the 6-year-old. The listing doesn’t stand out as anything particularly memorable, but outside of the home, the Waimanalo community has banded together to make sure that Isabella is not forgotten nearly 10 months after police say she was murdered.

Both Kalua’s are being held at OCCC without bail. Their trial is scheduled for September. If found guilty, they face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Neighbor wants closure with Kalua home up for sale

Monday the home of Isabella Kalua’s adoptive parents went on the market. The two are behind bars accused of killing the 6-year-old.

www.khon2.com

 

[Knox]

Case Event Schedule

Event	Defendant	Date	Time	Room	Location	Judge	Appearance Disposition
Trial	Lehua Kalua	09/26/2022	00:00:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.
Trial	Isaac Kalua III	09/26/2022	00:00:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.
Status Conference	Lehua Kalua	09/02/2022	13:15:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.
Status Conference	Isaac Kalua III	09/02/2022	13:15:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.
Status Conference	Lehua Kalua	07/15/2022	14:00:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.	CON-Continued
Status Conference	Isaac Kalua III	07/15/2022	14:00:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.	CON-Continued
Trial	Lehua Kalua	05/09/2022	00:00:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.	CON-Continued
Trial	Isaac Kalua III	05/09/2022	00:00:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.	CON-Continued
Status Conference	Lehua Kalua	04/11/2022	15:30:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.	CON-Continued
Status Conference	Isaac Kalua III	04/11/2022	15:30:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.	CON-Continued
Trial	Lehua Kalua	01/31/2022	00:00:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.	CON-Continued
Trial	Isaac Kalua III	01/31/2022	00:00:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.	CON-Continued
Pretrial Conference	Lehua Kalua	01/12/2022	08:30:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.	CON-Continued
Pretrial Conference	Isaac Kalua III	01/12/2022	08:30:00	First Circuit 1st Division	PUNCHBOWL	Wong , Paul B.K.	CON-Continued
Arraignment and Plea	Lehua Kalua Isaac Kalua III	11/29/2021	08:30:00	First Circuit 16th Division	PUNCHBOWL	Kuriyama , JUDGE Christine

 

[Knox]

Looks like the trial is scheduled for September 26th.

http://jimspss1.courts.state.hi.us:8080/eCourt/ECC/ECC.iface

Not finding much in the media anymore, I hope someone covers the trial.

 

[tarabull]

A year after Isabella ‘Ariel’ Kalua’s disappearance, her grieving family continues search for answers

The murder trial of Isabella "Ariel" Kalua has been delayed five times now.

www.hawaiinewsnow.com

 

[cocomod]

A year after Isabella ‘Ariel’ Kalua’s disappearance, her grieving family continues search for answers

The murder trial of Isabella "Ariel" Kalua has been delayed five times now.

www.hawaiinewsnow.com

Trial for the murder of Ariel has been delayed five times now.

It is now expected Feb. 20.

“Frustrating because everybody, not only us, but everybody wants to know the truth,” said Idao.

Loved ones are holding a memorial for Ariel next Saturday.

 

[JurassicParker]

I wish they would just get on with it. This poor girl deserves justice. I wonder if they will work a deal with them so they will tell LE where her body is. They don't deserve a deal but Ariel deserves a proper burial. She deserves peace.

 

[Knox]

The Kaluas are being held without bail. They’re charged with murder, hindering prosecution, and multiple counts of endangering the welfare of a minor. Their trial is set for February 2023.

Hoping the trial is televised, do they do that in Hawaii?

 

[mickey2942]

When the accused have murdered a child, and there is zero doubt, all the defense can do is stall. It seems to be a huge waste of time, money. I have seen other defendants just keep changing attorneys, file frivolous motions, just drag everything out. It is the only way they can exert control. Probably part of their pathology to manipulate everything as much as possible to avoid consequences of their actions.

 

[PommyMommy]

Isabella Ariel Kalua – The Charley Project

Isabella, circa 2021; Isaac Kalua; Lehua Kalua

• Missing Since 09/12/2021
• Missing From Waimanalo, Hawaii
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race Biracial, Pacific Islander, White
• Date of Birth 11/06/2014 (8)
• Age 6 years old
• Height and Weight 3'3, 46 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A black hooded sweatshirt, black leggings, multicolored socks and Nike slide shoes with pink soles.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Biracial (Caucasian/Pacific Islander) female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Isabella may go by her middle name, Ariel. She has previously broken her leg and her finger. Her birth name was Ariel Sellers.

Details of Disappearance​

Isabella's adoptive parents, Isaac Kalua III and Lehua Kalua, reported her missing at 6:30 a.m. on September 13, 2021. They said she was last seen asleep in her bedroom at the family's home on Puha Street in Waimanalo, Hawaii, at 9:00 p.m. the previous night.

Lehua noted that she'd found a side door open and suggested Isabella she had wandered off during the night. She and Isaac said Isabella had a history of leaving the house at night. She has never been heard from again, and an eight-day search turned up no sign of her.

Isabella's biological mother had substance abuse problems, and as a result the child's grandmother had served as legal guardian for her and four of her sisters. The girls were put in foster care in 2019, over concerns that their grandmother had become "overwhelmed" after her partner was seriously injured in an accident. Isabella and three of her sisters went to stay with the Kaluas, and the fourth girl moved in with a relative.

In January 2021, the Kaluas legally adopted Isabella and changed her name. The same day she was reported missing, Child Welfare Services removed all three of her siblings from the Kalua home.

Isaac has a prior criminal record; he was convicted of three counts of terroristic threatening and assault in 2001 and sentenced to five years' probation. His record should have disqualified him from being able to foster or adopt children, and it's not clear how he and his wife were approved as foster and then as adoptive parents.

On November 10, Isaac and Lehua were both arrested and charged with second-degree murder, hindering prosecution, persistent non-support, and endangering the welfare of a minor in Isabella's case. Lehua was also charged with two counts of abuse of a family or household member. Photos of the Kaluas are posted with this case summary.

Authorities believe Isaac and Lehua murdered Isabella in mid-August, about a month before she was reported missing. The child was last seen on the household's video surveillance cameras on August 18, and is believed to have been killed on that date or shortly thereafter.

Isabella had been enrolled in kindergarten at Waimanalo Elementary School via distance learning, but in June 2021, her parents withdrew her from school and filed paperwork to homeschool her. She had been taken to the hospital twice in the two years prior to her disappearance for treatment of injuries: in October 2019, she had a broken finger, and in January 2020 she broke her leg. Her parents said both injuries were accidental and a state investigation ruled out abuse.

According to her twelve-year-old sister, both she and Isabella were physically and mentally abused by the Kaluas and that Isabella had frequently been locked in a dog cage. Lehua had purchased the cage even though the family didn't have a dog, and locked Isabella in it because she would "sneak around at night and want to eat because she was hungry". She was hungry, her sister said, because her parents were not feeding her.

Isabella's sister stated that their parents had asked her to "keep a secret", the secret being that Lehua and Isaac had placed duct tape over Isabella's nose and mouth while she was in the dog cage and she "didn't wake up." Lehua tried to revive Isabella by filling the bathtub with water and putting her in it, but this didn't work. Her sister was made to carry Isabella's body into a bedroom.

According to Isabella's sister, the couple worked to get rid of the evidence of the murder and created a ruse so Isaac could get time off of work to help Lehua cover up the crime. On August 21, about three days after Isabella is believed to have been murdered, he went to the hospital claiming to have symptoms of Covid and took two weeks' sick leave from work due to his alleged infection.

The Kaluas are awaiting trial in Isabella's presumed death. Her remains have not been found, but foul play is suspected due to the circumstances involved.

 

[cocomod]

This beautiful little girl didn’t deserve the treatment she received. I hope they can find her little body and give her a proper burial that she deserves; she deserves dignity in death that she wasn’t given in life.