“The FBI will start interviewing people. We don’t expect this to break the case wide open…but we hope this will provide a lead,” FBI media relations coordinator and special agent Tom Simon said.
Pohaku and his handlers arrived Wednesday night and are with the urban search and rescue section of Hawaii’s Civil Defense agency.
Simon and CNMI DPS Commissioner Ramon C. Mafnas presented Pohaku, together with his handlers Shay Walden and Kuma Davis, to the media yesterday.
“This is an open-ended engagement as long as [the dog] is needed to search targeted areas,” Simon told reporters.
Pohaku has “strong skills in picking up scents but it will depend on the weather, humidity and heat,” he added.
Without revealing exact locations, Simon said the targeted areas are the jungle, abandoned buildings and houses.
As of yesterday, Simon said, authorities were not applying for search warrants, “but the people on the island are cooperative and friendly and are letting authorities in” to their homes or compounds.
“The target areas are not random, but are based on the leads in the case,” Simon added.
The investigation is focused on Saipan.
Authorities have checked domestic and international flights to and from the island during the early part of the investigation, Simon said, adding that the missing girls don’t have passports.
“There is no record of the girls leaving the island,” he added.
Shay Walden, one of the dog’s handlers, said she started training Pohaku when he was about eight months.
“He has been in many missions that involved search and recovery,” Walden told reporters.
Among Pohaku’s deployment abroad was Costa Rica, she added.
Pohaku has been utilized in disasters, collapsed structures or other calamities, she said.
“The climate here is similar to Hawaii,” Walden said, referring to Pohaku’s ability to adapt to Saipan’s tropical weather.
A $33,500 reward money is being offered for any information leading to the recovery of Faloma and Maleina Luhk or the prosecution of those behind their disappearance.
Call 911, the FBI at 322-6934, the girls’ family hotline at 285-4048 or the Crime Stoppers at 234-7272.
