On July 6, 1985, nineteen-year-old Diane Suzuki finished teaching dance at the Rosalie Woodson Academy in Aiea. She was supposed to meet friends at Turtle Bay that afternoon. Her car was still in the lot. Her purse and keys were left behind. Diane never made it out the door.

The community searched through the night. Police questioned classmates, instructors, and the photographer who lingered at the studio. A trunk seen carried out. Scratches on his arms. A failed polygraph. Luminol in the bathroom. Suspicions piled high — but no body, no eyewitness, no charges.

Nearly forty years later, Diane’s family still waits. Vigils have been held. Laws have been changed. Her name has traveled from Hawaii to Unsolved Mysteries and America’s Most Wanted. Yet her case remains one of the islands’ most haunting disappearances.

This is Diane’s story — retold and remastered — not to replace the past, but to honor her, and to bring her case forward in the way it was always meant to be heard.

If you know anything about the disappearance of Diane Suzuki, please contact Honolulu CrimeStoppers at (808) 955-8300, the Honolulu Police Department at (808) 529-3111, or visit NamUs.gov.

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Sources for this episode include:Hawaii News Now’s Who Killed Diane Suzuki?Honolulu Star-Bulletin archivesKHON2 News coverageThe Charley ProjectPBS Hawaii’s What School You Went? Podcast
Unsolved Mysteries and America’s Most Wanted

Mahalo to the journalists, investigators, and the Suzuki family for keeping Diane’s name alive.

#DianeSuzuki #HawaiiCrime #MissingPerson #ColdCase #UnsolvedMystery #TrueCrimePodcast #BeneathThePalms