On February 16, 1981, Esther Ostrem-Braden, a 61-year-old woman, was last seen in Honolulu, Hawaii. Public case information describes her as a White / Caucasian female with brown hair and blue eyes, standing about 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing approximately 110 pounds. That night, at around 10:00 p.m., Esther reportedly left her residence in Kaimuki, a Honolulu neighborhood, in her vehicle.
Her clothing at the time was not known, and the early facts of the case suggest that her departure from home was followed by a deeply troubling silence.
Two days later, on February 18, 1981, Esther’s brother received a suicide note from her, a discovery that transformed her absence into an urgent and painful concern for those who loved her. Her vehicle, a Hawaii-registered Pontiac sedan with license plate 2E-4535, was later found parked near Kahala Beach Park, specifically in the area fronting 4577 Kahala Avenue. Publicly available summaries of the case state that investigators believed Esther may have entered the waters off Kahala Beach Park, a place she was known to frequent for swimming.
A search of the water was conducted, but it produced no findings. That absence of recovery left the case suspended in uncertainty: there was a note, a vehicle located near the beach, and a theory about what may have happened, but no confirmation that could bring final answers. The public NamUs-related information does not list Esther’s case as resolved as alive or deceased, and the available case details do not indicate that she has been located. NamUs itself is described by federal sources as a national database and resource used by law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners, families, and others in missing, unidentified, and unclaimed persons cases.
Esther Ostrem-Braden’s disappearance remains a quiet and sorrowful case from Honolulu’s past. She was last known to have left her Kaimuki home late at night, her brother received a note two days later, and her vehicle was found near Kahala Beach Park, where investigators believed she may have gone into the ocean. Despite a water search, nothing was found, leaving her family without the certainty that every family deserves. In overview, Esther was a 61-year-old woman missing from Honolulu since February 16, 1981; the known trail leads from her Kaimuki residence to her recovered vehicle near Kahala Beach Park, but the final answer to what happened to her remains unknown.Last Seen: Feb 16, 1981
