Hawaii police search for suspect in three Big Island killings

The Big Island’s isolated road network and broken terrain are shaping the search for Jacob Daniel Baker, with police trying to cover a rural district where paved routes thin out quickly and lava fields, farm roads and island boundaries can narrow both escape options and search lines. Hawaii Island police said Baker, 36, of Pāhoa, was wanted in connection with three homicides in Puna and should not be approached if seen.

Police Chief Reed Mahuna said investigators had mobilized significant resources and personnel, and that safely taking Baker into custody without anyone else being harmed remained the top priority. The department said Baker should be considered armed and extremely dangerous, and asked anyone with information to contact police or Crime Stoppers.

The killings unfolded within about 48 hours in late May. Police said the first victim, a 69-year-old man, was found partially submerged in a cement pond. The second victim, a 79-year-old man, was found about 400 to 500 feet away. The third victim, also 69, was found about 19 miles from the first two locations. By May 28, police said they had positively identified two of the three victims, but had not yet publicly identified all three in the material reviewed.

Investigators said they had not disclosed the causes of death and had not established a motive. They also said there was no known connection among the victims other than the first two living near each other. The deaths took place in rural Puna, a stretch of Hawaii Island known for tropical vegetation, barren lava fields and long distances between homes, a landscape that can complicate both witness searches and ground sweeps.

Court records added another layer to the case. A woman filed a temporary restraining-order petition against Baker the week before the killings, alleging that he had threatened her life, the life of a disabled man and three people living on a farm. Earlier in the month, two women had also sought temporary restraining orders over alleged threatening and harassing behavior at a farm, but a judge denied both petitions for lack of sufficient proof.

Hawaii County police and Mayor Kimo Alameda offered condolences to the victims’ families as the manhunt continued. Police also said there was no indication that Baker was connected to a separate Hilo murder investigation reported the same morning, as officers kept pressing the search across the Big Island’s road corridors, coastal pockets and remote interior stretches.