LIHUE — Kauai police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found under suspicious circumstances in a Lihue parking lot early Saturday morning. A newspaper carrier for The Garden Island discovered the body while making his deliveries
LIHUE — Kauai police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found under suspicious circumstances in a Lihue parking lot early Saturday morning.
A newspaper carrier for The Garden Island discovered the body while making his deliveries in the office complex near the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall at about 4:45 a.m.
“I had the car lights on, and when I went in to drop off the papers, I didn’t see anything,” said Peterson Kobeney. “I was on my way back to the car when I saw this body on the sidewalk area.”
The headlights of his car lit the path. Kobeney said when he started to approach the body, he saw blood.
“I was going to see if he was sleeping,” Kobeney said. “But as I approached it, I saw blood from the headlights of the car.”
Kobeney said the body was that of a man in his 50s.
“That scared me,” he said. “My wife Melanie was in the car, and this was the first time we saw anything like this. We were afraid.”
Kobeney said he tried to call authorities immediately, but his cell phone was dead. He had to wait “to get back to my unit to call 911.”
After police and ambulance crews arrived in response to their call, the Kobeneys were detained at the site while police investigated.
“I had papers to deliver,” said Kobeney. “But they didn’t release us from the scene until 6:55 a.m.”
The identity of the man has not yet been confirmed, according to a Saturday afternoon press release from the county. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of his death.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Police Dispatch at 241-1711. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 246-8300.
