Woman Warns Beachgoers After Confrontation With Naked Kidnapping Suspect

A Morning Encounter on the Sand at Cromwell’s Beach

A woman resting on a Honolulu beach last Monday afternoon came face-to-face with a naked kidnapping suspect just an hour after a violent garage attack captured on surveillance video, Hawaii News Now reported.

Kailea Figueroa, a 30-year-old former Hawaiʻi resident, was eating an açaí bowl and resting on the sand at Cromwell’s Beach when she woke up to find a completely nude man standing just two feet away from her.

“I’m laying down, and he’s obviously standing, and at this point he is nude, which is obviously a very threatening stance,” Figueroa said.

Woman recalls unsettling encounter with naked Diamond Head kidnapping suspect

She immediately started yelling for him to back off. “I start screaming at him to get away from me,” she recalled. “I just said, ‘What are you doing, bro? Get away from me. Like, back up.’”

Figueroa Describes Man Staring with Unsettling Look

According to Figueroa, the man — identified later as Kawelo — showed no facial expressions but possessed a “crazy, fiery” look in his eyes.

Woman Warns Beachgoers After Confrontation With Naked Kidnapping Suspect

“It seemed like he wanted to hurt me,” Figueroa said. “It looked like he wanted to eat me, to be honest. Like he had a hunger in his eyes that just was like so unsettling.”

When she screamed at him, Kawelo did not react defensively. Instead, he mumbled and gestured toward the water as if he intended to go for a swim. Figueroa noted that he did enter the water shortly after, and later approached another man and woman on the beach who also steered clear of him.

At the time of the encounter, Figueroa had no idea the naked man standing over her was the prime suspect in a violent crime committed roughly 1.5 miles away.

Woman describes encounter with naked kidnapping suspect

The Kainalu Condominium Garage Attack

Prosecutors state that Kawelo attacked a 24-year-old stranger earlier that day in the parking garage of the Kainalu condominium complex near Diamond Head.

Surveillance footage obtained by Hawaii News Now shows Kawelo’s truck arriving at the complex at 11:26 a.m. and leaving about 20 minutes later before returning roughly a half-hour afterward. Prosecutors say Kawelo stalked, chased, and grabbed the woman, carrying her 35 feet toward his truck while she fought back by swinging her limbs, pulling his hair, and screaming until he finally released her.

Police arrested Kawelo later that day, charging him with kidnapping and harassment. Figueroa realized the connection only after driving past police officers making the arrest that afternoon and later seeing the news coverage and mugshot.

“I was so in shock seeing that video and seeing his mugshot,” Figueroa said. “It just makes me want to give a message out to women to be vigilant on the beach. Also, just be aware of your surroundings.”

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