Dana’s Hawaii Photos

Huck in Hawaii, March 2011

Huck claims that, months before her death in 2014, Dana fell in Hawaii while doing yoga and hit her head. Huck’s story was accepted as true by the coroner investigator, who wrote:

“The decedent experienced a falling episode one year ago while in Hawaii. She reportedly fell and struck the back of her head. She was evaluated and was reported to be fine.”

autopsy report (pdf)

Somehow, this alleged fall in 2013 made it plausible to Long Beach homicide detectives that Dana fell and died doing yoga in 2014. However, this alleged fall in 2013 never happened. Dana’s sister told police that Huck was lying. Dana had not been to Hawaii in years. Her final visit was in November 2011. Huck’s statement about a fall referenced a minor incident from 2009 in which Dana fell on her butt, and was uninjured, at a thermal pond near Pahoa. She didn’t hit her head, it had nothing to do with yoga, and it happened several years before her death.

Huck in the town of Hawi

In 2011, Dana and Huck traveled twice to the Big Island, in March and November. After these trips, Dana told her sister that Huck sought out secluded beaches, and was angry when he couldn’t find one on which they could be alone. He wanted Dana to pose for pictures at the edges of cliffs that she felt were dangerous. He badgered her to swim in surf that she thought was too risky, and was angry when she declined. Dana joked about it with her sister; it was as if Huck was unconsciously trying to put her in harm’s way. Ultimately, Dana dismissed it all as Huck’s general fearlessness and inability to see potential peril.

Vacation photos taken by Dana on these trips document some of the instances she described. Dana mentioned these misgivings regarding her safety to her sister, but she never said anything about a so-called yoga fall, or about seeking medical evaluation while in Hawaii ever.

Dana hesitates to get closer to the edge
She joins him for a photo
Dana snaps photos from a safe distance
She documents signage when he accuses her of nagging him to be careful
She stays on shore, ready to call for help if something happens to him
These are her vacation mementos

Dana and Huck wanted to return to the town of Hawi in March 2013, but Dana canceled the trip because her schedule filled with work commitments and a planned medical procedure. Her last visit to Hawaii was in 2011, three years before her death. Even so, Long Beach police did not question Huck’s credibility about an alleged yoga fall in Hawaii in 2013.

Dana waves, March 2011

Like a good neighbor