Key Witnesses Speak Out for the First Time; Dam’s Owner James Pflueger Goes on the Record with Hawaii Reporter; Kauai County Mystery Unsolved; Government on the Hot Seat; Families Still Wait for Justice

22-year-old Christina “Sunny” McNees was captured by a friend on video last March talking about the meaning of life, her belief in God and her future with fiancé, Daniel Arroyo, who she was to marry that weekend. Nearly 9 months pregnant, McNees glowed with excitement as she rubbed her round belly and spoke of the couple’s baby expected within a matter of days. When asked about the meaning of life, she said philosophically: “To remember … to remember the one-ness and just keep working toward that. And to remember the divine, always, in everybody and everything.” Arroyo stood with his arm laced around the shoulder of his bride-to-be and when prompted, shared his inner most thoughts on these subjects.

But for friends and family who flew to Kauai to be with the young couple that weekend, their words about the meaning of life and afterlife are particularly haunting. The young couple did not live to their wedding day or to experience the birth of their baby. Instead, just before the sun rose on March 14, 2006, they were swept away by what witnesses called a “tsunami from the mountain” from their snug guest cottage located near the Wailapa Stream. People of Kauai awoke to the news that on that dark morning, after 44 days of heavy rain, Ka Loko Dam’s 118-year-old earthen foundation gave way, sending more than 400 million gallons of water down what was once a tiny, almost unnoticeable stream.

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(Source: Hawaii Reporter)