In the summer of 2002, 11-year-old Noel Santiago and his 7-year-old brother Daniel disappeared from Honolulu after their father, Victorio Santiago, a Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, left the family home on the Pearl Harbor base with them. A protective order had been in effect between Victorio and the boys’ mother; a heated argument that reportedly included an assault preceded his departure in a rented light green Daewoo Leganza. Victorio had taken the children after disputes before but previously returned them within hours.

The Honolulu Police Department and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service conducted extensive searches across Oahu and surrounding waters; the rental car was never recovered. The boys’ passports were left behind, and investigators found no evidence the three left Hawaii, though Victorio’s relatives later received letters from him expressing sorrow and language some interpreted as suicidal. Law enforcement has stated they do not believe the trio remain alive in Hawaii, and the case remains active with periodic age-progressed images released.

What information might help clarify what happened to Noel and Daniel that night?