Hawaiian Couple Accused of Killing Their 6-Year-Old Adopted Daughter Facing Trial

The adoptive parents of a 6-year-old girl accused of her murder after the child was reported missing in September 2021 are expected to go on trial this year.

Honolulu police claimed the Lehua Kalua, 45, and Isaac K. Kalua III, 54, killed Isabella Kalua, also known as Ariel Sellers, sometime around mid-August 2021, The Star Advertiser reported.

Lehua Kalua and Isaac K. Kalua III were arrested for suspicion of second-degree murder on Nov. 10, 2021, and both continue to be held without bail, according to The Star Advertiser.

Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

Investigators searched the Kaluas’ Waimanalo, Hawaii property for the girl, but her body has never been located.

The couple said they last saw the child at 9 p.m. on Sept. 12, 2021, in her bedroom, and they reported her missing by calling 911 at 6:30 a.m. the following morning, The Star Advertiser reported.

Homicide Lt. Deena Thoemmes said the statement they made to police was false, according to The Star Advertiser.

The couple told police the girl left the house in the middle of the night, but a review of multiple surveillance videos in the area allegedly show that was false, The Star Advertiser reported.

“Unfortunately, what began as a search for a missing girl turned into a murder investigation focused on the Kaluas,” Honolulu interim police chief Rade Vanic told The Star Advertiser in 2021. “We believe that the evidence leads to the Kaluas and no one else.”

Anyone who may have seen Isabella or had interactions with her or her sisters from 2019 to August 2021 are asked to call CrimeStoppers at (808) 955-8300. Anyone who may have seen Lehua or Isaac “Sonny” Kalua from August to September are also asked to call CrimeStoppers.