Sean Burgado, 27, was found dead inside his Malaʻai Road home in Hilo on May 21, 1997, after failing to return to work. Police were called to the residence at about 5:25 p.m., and an autopsy determined he died of a gunshot wound; investigators ruled his death a homicide. He had been last seen leaving his shift at a health care facility on the evening of May 19, and concern grew when he missed several days of work before an employer asked someone to check on him.

Public details are spare: no clear motive has been released and the case remained unsolved for years. In 2017 authorities renewed an appeal for information, and in 2019 detectives described newly developed leads and sought to identify a male who may have been seen near the Malaʻai Road residence in late May 1997, possibly accompanied by two other unidentified individuals; a forensic composite was prepared of that man as he reportedly appeared in 1997. Does anyone who lived in upper Waiākea Uka at the time remember seeing someone near Malaʻai Road in May 1997 or know anything that could help investigators?