UNSOLVED HOMICIDE: LISA AU

When a 19 year old Hawaiian woman leaves a dinner party on a torrentially rainy night, the journey turns deadly—and not because of the weather. Fear grips the Island of Oahu as police search for a killer within their own ranks in this episode of Last Seen Alive.

Lisa’s body was discovered in a ravine on Tantalus–a mountain that overlooks the city of Honolulu. Here, a scenic view from the mountainside demonstrates why the mountain’s trails are so popular with walkers and hikers, like the man who discovered Lisa’s remains while walking his dog.

The morning after her disappearance, Lisa’s car was found abandoned on the side of the road. Lisa had last been seen departing a dinner party in her car, and never made it home that night.

Lisa Au’s parents are pictured here during an interview with media just days after Lisa’s disappearance. At this point, Lisa’s remains had not yet been discovered.

After Lisa’s disappearance, volunteers descended upon shopping centers and other public spaces and distributed missing posters.

Lisa Au was 19 years old when she was murdered. A newly-minted beauty school graduate, she’d recently begun working as a professional hair stylist.

Sources used to research / write this episode:

37 Years Ago, Her Murder Gripped Oahu. But From the Start, the Investigation Went Astray (Hawaii News Now)

Lisa Au (Honolulu Star Bulletin)

Detectives Hope DNA Can Link Man To Oahu’s Serial Killings (KITV)

Video: Buried Evidence: The Lisa Au Case (Hawaii News Now / Lynn Kawano)

Is the Honolulu Strangler Dead or Still at Large? (ActiveFugitives.com)

Ready for your next great true crime listen?

A Last Seen Alive recommended listen!

Violent, provocative, shocking. Call them what you will … but don’t call them open and shut.

Did Lizzie Borden murder her own father and stepmother? Was Jack the Ripper actually the Duke of Clarence? Who killed JonBenet Ramsey? America’s foremost expert on criminal profiling and twenty-five-year FBI veteran John Douglas, along with author and filmmaker Mark Olshaker, explores those tantalizing questions and more in this mesmerizing work of detection.

With uniquely gripping analysis, the authors reexamine and reinterpret the accepted facts, evidence, and victimology of the most notorious murder cases in the history of crime, including the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the Zodiac Killer, and the Whitechapel murders. Utilizing techniques developed by Douglas himself, they give detailed profiles and reveal chief suspects in pursuit of what really happened in each case.

The Cases That Haunt Us not only offers convincing and controversial conclusions, it deconstructs the evidence and widely held beliefs surrounding each case and rebuilds them—with fascinating, surprising, and haunting results.

Audible is offering a free 30 day trial to Last Seen Alive Listeners. Activate yours here and download a free audiobook of your choice, like The Cases That Haunt Us by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker.