[1] The incident began just before 7:00 a.m. on February 6, 1996, when 28-year-old John Nahale Miranda burst into the Seal Masters of Hawaii building.
Miranda was enraged over having no money or job; he had also accused company officials of racism and firing him solely because he was Hawaiian/Puerto Rican.
[4] The presenters of the radio tried to talk him down and implored him to surrender peacefully, but Miranda refused as he had already been to jail previously and had no intention of returning.
Local news television crews also arrived on scene moments later and began broadcasting the event live.
[5] During the early stages of the negotiations, Miranda dragged George to an open window and showed police he had already shot a hostage.
At some point during the crisis, Miranda turned his attention elsewhere and George climbed out of the same open window and fell ten feet to the ground below.
Miranda then exited the building with his four remaining hostages and ordered them to walk down the steps to the street below.
[8] Three of the hostages escaped unharmed, and McNeil himself only suffered a few minor injuries and scrapes during his struggle with Miranda.
McNeil had been able to walk to a nearby ambulance and was treated at St. Francis Medical Center for cuts and bruises, but no gunshot wounds.
Acting on an informant's tip, police searched Kawai Nui Marsh for the body of Holmes.
Honolulu police and a team of dogs scoured the area several times before finding a cardboard box, buried only a few yards off of Kapa’a Quarry Road.
As no dental records existed for Holmes, investigators enlisted the aid of the Army's identification lab in Honolulu, using DNA and photo imaging technology to be certain.