Case Details
- Photo URLs:
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- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 06/09/1997
- Missing From:
- Missing From Oahu, Hawaii
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race Asian
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 06/09/1938 (86)
- Age:
- Age 59 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’2, 100 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A long-sleeved shirt, long pants, white sneakers and a floppy white hat.
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Asian female. Black hair, brown eyes. Koja wears eyeglasses and dentures. Her nickname is Jackie. She was born in South Korea and moved to the United States in 1962.
- Details of Disappearance:
- Koja disappeared on her birthday, June 9, 1997, in Oahu, Hawaii. She went for her usual early morning walk and never came back.
Neighbors heard screams around 4:00 a.m., but dismissed them. Later, a janitor at Leilehua High School found blood and cleaned it up before police were notified. Police later found a blood trail, Koja’s headphones and pepper spray (thrown away by a school employee), parts of her glasses, and a piece of her dental work near the school.
Frank Janto, a man with a long history of violent crimes, confessed to killing Koja. He said he attacked her, beat her to death, and threw her body in a dumpster which was emptied and incinerated before police could recover the body. Janto was convicted of second-degree murder and received a very long prison sentence.
Years later, Janto was also convicted of killing another woman, Rose Chiquita, in a similar manner. Both women were older and attacked while walking alone early in the morning.
Koja’s body has never been found. The evidence strongly suggests she was murdered.
- Agency:
- Oahu Police Department 808-529-3115
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 06/09/1997